4 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

PRESENTED BY 



2\\ Account of tlje Celebration 

OF THE 

SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE 

Second Society of Universalis, boston. 



9tt Account of tfce Celebration 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 



Second Society of universalists, Boston, 



December 18, 1892. 



The Proceedings of the Social Parish Banquet, 
January 26, 1893. 



TOttfj Ellugtrattons. 



BOSTON: 
universalist publishing house. 

1893. 



Hnttattg Press: 

John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



PREFACE. 



A T a meeting of the Standing Committee of the 
Second Universalist Society, holden April, 
1892, Rev. S. H. Roblin, the pastor, announced that 
seventy-five years had nearly passed since the church 
was organized, and that he found in looking over the 
old records of the church that the anniversary would 
occur in December. 

After deliberate consideration the Standing Com- 
mittee decided it would be well to recognize the 
occasion in a public way, and voted to appoint a 
special committee to consider the matter and arrange 
for a proper celebration. 

Messrs. Alden Viles and B. B. Whittemore were 
appointed a committee, with the pastor, to perfect all 
necessary arrangements. The plan adopted was as 
follows : — 

First : An Historical Discourse by Rev. A. A. Miner, 
D. D., LL.D., to be given in the Church Sunday morning, 
Dec. 18, 1892. 

Second: A Public Mass Meeting in the Church on Sunday 
evening, December 18, with the following speakers: — 
Introductory address by Rev. S. H. Roblin. 
Hosea Ballou : Rev. O. Cone, D. D. 

Seventy-five Years of Work : Rev. I. M. ATW00D, D. D. 
Present Opportunity: Rev. Charles H. Leonard. 
Third: A Social Parish Gathering, to which all present 
and past members of the Society should be invited. 



vi 



PREFACE. 



On account of the Christmas season and the many 
engagements connected therewith, it was decided to 
postpone the third part of the celebration to Jan- 
uary 26. 

The programme thus outlined was successfully car- 
ried out, and the occasions were so interesting and 
hold such important bearing on our church history 
and church life that it has seemed best to put them 
upon record in permanent form and to publish this 
book for the use of the church. The sermon of 
Dr. Miner, careful in its historic research, rich in per- 
sonal reminiscence, sparkling everywhere with a spirit 
of devotion to the church and its faith, will be gladly 
welcomed. The scholarly and critical biographical 
study of Dr. Cone is a rich and valuable addition 
to our literature ; the thoughtful study of the Church 
period by Dr. Atwood, so enjoyed in its delivery, 
will be read anew with pleasure and profit ; and the 
Christian and apostolic counsel of Dr. Leonard may 
be read and studied over and over again with profit 
by every member of the society. 

It seems fitting also that there should be appended 
a full report of the brilliant and successful social 
occasion which followed in January. 



Boston, February. 1893. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Historical Discourse. By Rev. A. A. Miner, D.D., LL.D. . 13 

Introductory. By Rev. Stephen Herbert Roblin ... 57 
Hosea Ballou : An Estimate. By President Orello 

Cone, D. D 61 

Position and Influence of the Church for Seventy-Five 

Years. By President Isaac M. Atwood, D. D. . . 77 
The Opportunity of the Church To-Day. By Prof. 

Charles H. Leonard, D. D 88 

foetal parte!) <ftattjcring. 

Address by Mr. H. D. Williams .101 

Toasts: announced by Hon. A. A. Folsom 102, 106, 109, 112, 

1 14, 1 20, 124 

Address by B. B. Whittemore, Esq 103 

" « Hon. H. B. Metcalf 106 

" " Rev. Charles R. Tenney 109 

" " John D. W. Joy, Esq 112 

" " Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner 115 

" " Albert A. Gleason, Esq 120 

" " Rev. S. H. Roblin 124 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 

Rev. Hosea Ballou Frontispiece 

Rev. Dr. A. A. Miner 13 

Fac-simile of Plate taken from the Corner Stone of the 

School-Street Church 15 

The Old School-Street Church 53 

Rev. S. H. Roblin 57 

Rev. Dr. E. H. Chapin 101 

Church on Columbus Avenue 103 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



1 




HISTORICAL DISCOURSE 



By Rev. A. A. MINER, D. D., LL.D. 



The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times as 
many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you. — 
Deut. i. ii. 

'T^HIS society was incorporated Dec. 13, 18 16, 



A under the style of the " Second Society of Uni- 
versalists in the Town of Boston," John Brooks being 
Governor of the Commonwealth. The following gen- 
tlemen were named in the Act of Incorporation, to 
wit. : Richard Faxon, John Brazer, Edmund Wright, 
Benjamin Russell, Thomas Wiley, Daniel C. Robin- 
son, Martin Hersey, Nathaniel Hammond, Addison 
Bacon, William Barry. Levi Melcher, Elijah Loring, 
Caleb Wright, Pelatiah Rea, Daniel E. Powars, Joseph 
Badger, Samuel Hastings, Winslow Wright, Daniel 
Johnson, John W. Trull, and John Blunt, Jr. 

Of these twenty-one gentlemen, seven were living 
•in 1848, when I became connected with the parish, of 
whom five were still members of the parish ; namely, 
William Barry, Caleb Wright, Daniel E. Powars, 
Joseph Badger, and Winslow Wright. 




14 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



On Jan. 17, 181 7, Edmund Wright, one of the cor- 
porators, was authorized by William Wetmore, a 
justice of the peace for Suffolk County, to call a meet- 
ing of the corporators and their associates at the 
Green Dragon Tavern, in Boston, on the evening of 
Jan. 25, 181 7, to organize the society and choose the 
necessary officers. The call for the meeting was 
issued on the same day, and was held accordingly. 
John Brazer was chosen moderator; Edward Wright, 
clerk and treasurer ; and John Brazer, Esq., Edmund 
Wright, Lemuel Packard, Jr., Dr. David Townsend, 
Esq., Daniel E. Powars, Levi Melcher, and John 
W. Trull were chosen the Standing Committee. 

It appears from the records that in February, 181 7, 
forty-three persons, including one woman, Miss 
Eunice Gridley, had subscribed one hundred and 
thirty-nine shares, at one hundred dollars each, to- 
wards a proposed meeting-house. Two gentlemen, 
John Brazer and Edmund Wright, subscribed fifteen 
shares each; Lemuel Packard, Jr., subscribed ten; 
five others, five shares each ; one, four ; eight, three 
each ; twenty, two each ; and six, one each. 

It was expected that the site of the proposed edifice 
would be the spot on which the old French church 
formerly stood in School Street, in the pulpit of which 
Mr. Murray was stoned in 1774. Such has been the 
tradition respecting the site. This tradition had the 
support of Dr. Thomas Whittemore, in his life of 
Hosea Ballou, and was followed by me in preparing 
the chapter on Universalism for the " Memorial His- 
tory of Boston " in 1881. That site was indeed bar- 



The Second 

Universal Church 

TWUK 

" Jesus Christ 
'Chief Corner St o^te? 



FAC-SIMILE OF THE PLATE TAKEN FROM THE CORNER- 
STONE OF THE SCHOOL-STREET CHURCH. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



15 



gained for, but afterward abandoned because of some 
obstacle to the gaining of a satisfactory title. The 
site finally determined on was adjacent to the above 
and next west of it, being the lot on which the busi- 
ness edifice known as the " School Street Block " 
now stands, the fee of which this parish still holds. 
The estimated cost of the church was $22,000. When 
completed, the hundred and thirty-eight pews, includ- 
ing twenty in the galleries, were valued at from $75 to 
$4.20 each, making an aggregate valuation of $33,930. 
These pews were taxed from $6.76 to $17. 16. per year, 
making an aggregate income of $1839.26 per year. 

The corner-stone of the new edifice was laid May 
19, 181 7, in which was deposited a silver plate, the 
gift of Dr. David Townsend, with the following in- 
scription : "The Second Universal Church, devoted 
to the worship of the True God : Jesus Christ being 
the chief Corner-Stone. May 19, 181 7." 

As the completion of the edifice drew near, a day 
was selected for the dedication. October 15 was 
first named, but as it chanced that a cattle show at 
Brighton w r as appointed for the 15th, the dedication 
was deferred to the 1 6th. Rev. Thomas Jones of 
Gloucester preached the sermon, from John iv. 23. 
Rev, Messrs. Edward Turner, Hosea Ballou, and Paul 
Dean had been invited to share the other parts of the 
programme. But Mr. Ballou was in Vermont, and 
Mr. Dean, though in the pulpit, took no part, it was 
said on account of ill health. The remaining ser- 
vices, therefore, were divided between Rev. Edward 
Turner, of Charlestown, and Rev. David Pickering. 



l6 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



The By-Laws adopted by the parish provided that 
" no minister shall be settled over this society unless 
three fourths of the proprietors present shall be in 
favor of such settlement after due notice shall have 
been given of a meeting for that purpose." Such 
a by-law is still in force. 

Then came the day for which all other days in this 
history were made. October 21 was designated for 
the meeting to select a pastor. 

Members of the society came to this meeting pre- 
occupied. The name of Hosea Ballou had long been 
in their minds. At that time he was the most promi- 
nent advocate of Universalism in New England or in 
the United States. He had been twenty-six years in 
the ministry and was forty-six years of age. He had 
travelled widely, and occupied several of the most im- 
portant places in our church. He was majestic in 
person, dignified in bearing, and of a noble presence. 
Wherever he went, crowds flocked to hear him. A 
great impulse was given to Universalism wherever he 
was heard. He was at once the most incisive and the 
most aggressive warrior in the church militant. The 
bulwarks of error were shaken whenever his ord- 
nance was trained upon them. His work on the 
" Atonement," published in 1805, had opened well- 
springs of spiritual life that made the desert " blossom 
as the rose." 

Long before this he had been heard in Boston. 
In Mr. Murray's pulpit he had given utterance to 
some of the same views that characterized his work 
on the Atonement. These views were Unitarian, 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



17 



and antedated the Unitarian denomination. Rev. 
John Murray was a Trinitarian. Mrs. Murray caused 
the audience to be warned, through one Mr. Balch, 
that Mr. Ballou's sentiments were not in harmony 
with the usual teachings of that church. Mr. Ballou 
quietly replied : " The audience will please to take 
notice of what our brother has said. 1 ' Many of the 
audience were much displeased at this interruption, 
and the parish committee held a meeting the same 
evening, with many members of the parish, who 
together called on Mr. Ballou and expressed their 
displeasure. 

Mr. Ballou was at this time (1798) but twenty-seven 
years of age. A desire sprang up soon after to make 
a place for him in Boston. But Mr. Murray of the 
First Church was a^ed. Should Mr. Ballou come to 
Boston, it would grieve that good man's heart and 
undoubtedly weaken his parish. Mr. Ballou would 
not for a moment listen to it. 

Now, however, the circumstances had changed. 
Eighteen to twenty years had passed. Mr. Murray 
had deceased two years before. His colleague, the 
Rev. Paul Dean, an eloquent man, was not such a 
preacher as it was felt the state of theological opin- 
ion demanded. That he was opposed to Mr. Ballou's 
coming to Boston, he distinctly informed him. Never- 
theless, Mr. Ballou did not now feel the same objection 
to listening to his Boston friends that he felt during 
the life of Mr. Murray. 

When the parish was assembled on the 21st of 
October, there was but one thing it could do. It 

2 



i8 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



had organized with Mr. Ballou in mind. It had built 
a church for his occupancy. It was about to realize 
its long cherished hopes. By a sort of divine neces- 
sity, it gave Hosea Ballou a unanimous invitation to 
its pulpit, which was accepted three days later by 
the following letter : — 

Boston, Oct. 24, 1817. 

Sir, — The call of the Second Universalist Society in 
Boston inviting me to the labors of the Christian ministry 
with them, together with the liberal terms which accompany 
said invitation, have been duly considered. And after weigh- 
ing all the circumstances relative to the subject, so far as my 
limited mind could comprehend them, I have come to the 
conclusion that it is my duty to accept their call on the con- 
ditions therein stated. 

I largely participate the " peculiar pleasure " afforded by 
the consideration of the unanimity of the society, and enter- 
tain the humble hope that with the continuance of this har- 
mony we may long continue to enjoy all spiritual blessings 
in Christ Jesus. 

The society's most humble servant in Christ, 

Hosea Ballou. 

To John Brazer, Esq. 

A committee was chosen, November 19, to propose 
suitable measures to be adopted " to qualify the Rev. 
Hosea Ballou as pastor of the Society." 

November 22 this committee reported, "That the 
subject subside for the present." 

A month later, December 21, the society voted, 
" That the installation of the Rev. Hosea Ballou take 
place on Thursday next, at 2 p. m., being Christmas 
Day." 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



19 



The services of installation took place accordingly : 
Rev. Paul Dean preaching the sermon, from Acts xx. 
24, and giving the fellowship of the churches; Rev. 
Edward Turner, of Charlestown, offering the installing 
prayer and giving the charge; and Rev. Joshua Flagg, 
of Salem, offering the concluding prayer. Thus were 
completed the steps deemed necessary " to qualify " 
Mr. Ballou for the duties of pastor. 

A brilliant career was now fully inaugurated. The 
School Street Church became at once the centre of 
the most important influences. The Divine love, in 
the hands of Mr. Ballou, was the key to an harmonious 
interpretation of the Scriptures, and the rending away 
of those clouds of darkness that had so long en- 
shrouded the human mind. The rhetoric of fire and 
of wrath and of the bottomless pit took its proper 
place as rhetoric, and Divine love and compassion and 
sympathy and mercy became sacred realities. Rough 
men were softened, and innocent women and children 
could sleep at night. The fall in Adam fell out, the 
Trinity became a Unity, and the darkness of eternal 
woe was illumined by the " Sun of Righteousness." 

The church was often thronged. Lecture sermons 
were numerous, and frequently circulated in print be- 
fore the audience left the church. Mr. Henry Bowen, 
a printer and a devoted friend of Mr. Ballou, well re- 
membered by some of us, rendered this great service. 
Amazement filled the people as they saw the sim- 
plicity and harmony of the Divine Word. Charges of 
heresy from all the strongholds of error were hurled 
at the preacher, and were repelled with pungency and 



20 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 



truth. Controversies arose. Pamphlets, newspaper 
articles, and platform and pulpit discussions abounded 
on every hand. Most unwonted interest in religious 
subjects was created, and Mr. Ballou for a time was 
deemed by the outside world the arch-heretic of the 
age. Most upright in his walk, extremely abstemious 
in his habits, and most reverent toward God and his 
holy Word, he was nevertheless denounced as an im- 
moral, intemperate, and profane man. All this, how- 
ever, he both preached down and lived down. Sus- 
tained by as noble a body of men as Boston ever 
knew, he " went from strength to strength, every one 
of them in Zion appearing before God." 

Nor were the labors of Mr. Ballou confined to 
Boston ; they could not be. He was in continual 
requisition at conventions, associations, ordinations, 
installations, and a multitude of more private but not 
less influential occasions. Of a dignified and manly 
presence, clear in his enunciation, cogent in his rea- 
sonings, apt in his illustrations, and transparent in his 
meaning, even to the comprehension of a child, he 
was emphatically the man for the people. Few men 
have ever lived who could lift the human heart into 
closer communion with God, or inspire it with a 
deeper sense of Divine love. 

Desire for the services of such a man could not be 
confined to Boston. Few, however, were the parishes 
that could hope to win him from his existing relations. 
In respect to one of these — an invitation to the Sec- 
ond Universalist Society of Philadelphia in 1822, at a 
material increase of salary — he consulted his parish. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



21 



A movement was at once made which determined him 
against a change. For many a year his position as 
Christian teacher, counsellor, and friend was one of 
growing confidence and influence. 

In his numerous journeyings, as might be expected, 
many incidents occurred both instructive and amus- 
ing. On his way of a Saturday evening to a town in 
Essex County, while waiting for a private conveyance 
from the railway station, he stepped into a cottage, 
where he found a good woman washing her floor. 
She cordially welcomed him, and entered at once 
into conversation. On learning that her guest was 
Mr. Ballou, the Universalist preacher, she expressed 
surprise, and inquired if he " really believed that all 
men will be saved." 

" Yes, I hope so." 

" What," said she, " is it possible that sinners can 
be saved just as they are ? " 

" My good woman," said he, " are you going to wash 
up your floor just as it is ? " 

" Ah," said she, " I see ! I never thought that sav- 
ing sinners was just making them morally clean." 

On one occasion, being introduced to a venerable 
lady, she asked : " Are you Mr. Ballou, the Univer- 
salist preacher?" On being answered affirmatively, 
she further inquired : " Do you preach the gospel of 
the New Testament ? " 

He replied : " I try to preach it." 

" But," said she, " do you preach as the Saviour 
preached ? " 

" I try to." 



22 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



" Do you preach, ' Woe unto you, Scribes, Phari- 
sees, hypocrites ' ? " 

"Ah, no," said he, "those people do not attend my 
meeting!" 

He was equally apt in his responses to pious igno- 
rance. An aged lady admonished him that the good 
book says: " In Adam's fall we sinned all." To which 
he replied : " And the same good book says : ' The 
cat doth play and often slay.' " 

Dr. Whittemore, in his " Life of Ballou," narrates a 
stage-coach experience of Mr. Ballou, which carries its 
own moral. He had spent some days in Nantucket. 
Returning, at New Bedford he found himself seated 
beside a stranger, who asked : " Are you from Nan- 
tucket, sir ? " 

" I am," replied Mr. Ballou. 

" Is there any news at the island?" 

" I heard none," said Mr. Ballou. 

" Ah, well, they say old Ballou was down there 
preaching ! Did you hear anything about him ? " 

" He has been preaching there, sir." 

" Large congregations, I suppose ? Did you hear 
him, sir ? " 

" I did, — several times." 

" Well, I don't like him. He don't believe in future 
punishment; he holds that all men will go to heaven 
when they die, just as they leave this world. I don't 
like him. There 's Mr. Dean ; I think he s a very 
fine man, — a gentleman. I should like to hear him 
preach." 1 

1 Messrs. Ballou and Dean had been some time in controversy, and 
had their respective partisans. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



23 



" Did you ever hear Mr. Ballou preach ? " said Mr. 
Ballou, very calmly. 

" No, — no, sir, I never heard him preach, — I have 
no desire to hear him ; but I should be gratified to 
hear Mr. Dean." 

" Did you ever hear Mr. Dean, sir? " 

" Yes, sir, — several times. He is a fine man, — a 
gentleman ; but Ballou I do not like at all. He 
preaches a horrid doctrine ! " 

" And what does he preach, sir, that is horrid ? " 

" Oh, he holds that all men will go to heaven at 
once when they die ! " 

" Well, sir, suppose that they do ; is that horrid ? 
Is it not very desirable that all men shall become holy 
and happy ? " 

" Ah, sir, but he holds that men will go to heaven 
in their sins ! " 

" But, sir, you have confessed that you never heard 
him preach ; how do you know that he preaches in 
that manner ? " 

" Oh, I have heard so a thousand times ! " 

" But you may have been misinformed, my friend. 
I am quite confident Mr. Ballou holds no such doc- 
trine. If you were to put the question to him, I think 
he himself would say he held no such doctrine." 

" I am surprised ! Well, what does he hold to, 
then ? " 

" I think if he were here, he would say he did not 
believe what you have attributed to him, — that men 
are to go to heaven in their sins. He probably would 
say he held that men are to be saved from their sins/' 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



" Well, you seem to know. Will you let me ask 
where you live ? " 

" I live in Boston, sir." 

" Do you attend a Universalist church ? " 

" I do, sir." 

" What church do you attend, sir ? " 
" I attend Mr. Ballou's, sir." 

" Are you intimately acquainted with Mr. Ballou, 
sir ? " 

" My name is Hosea Ballou, my friend." 

The stranger's confusion may be better imagined 
than described. 

Near twenty-five years of faithful and laborious ser- 
vice were accomplished, and the snows of seventy win- 
ters had fallen upon the head of this venerable servant 
of God. What could be done for his relief? He was 
ready to co-operate in any measure that would pro- 
mote the welfare of the society. But who could fill 
such a position ? Is it strange that opinions were 
divided in respect to a colleague? "In 1841 com- 
menced those unfortunate difficulties in regard to a 
colleague, which continued with little interruption 
until the fall of 1845, when the proprietors were 
called together to act upon a proposition to sell the 
meeting-house, and wind up the affairs of the society. 
It is understood that this movement originated with 
one or two men who, having become owners of a con- 
siderable number of pews, had a stronger regard for 
the profits of such a sale than for the spiritual inter- 
ests of the society. This proposition, however, was 
rejected by a decisive vote of more than two to one 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



25 



out of one hundred votes cast." During this period 
the pulpit was supplied one half of the time by Mr. 
Ballou, and the other half by Rev. T. C. Adam as a 
candidate from May, 1842, to January, 1843; by Rev. 
H. B. Soule as a candidate from May, 1844, to May, 
1845 ; and the remainder of the time by the Standing 
Committee. 

The history of the society for the next three years 
is well presented by the Hon. Newton Talbot, from 
whom a portion of the preceding paragraph is quoted, 
in an article published in 185 1 in a little work entitled 
" Our Gift," written exclusively by the teachers of the 
Sunday-school of that period. We make the following 
extracts : — 

" That portion of the Society who voted against the propo- 
sition to sell had, early that year, taken counsel together 
in regard to the future prosperity of the Society. Father 
Ballou [who had already voluntarily relinquished the greater 
part of his salary] expressed a willingness to be relieved 
from all active duties as pastor of the Society, other than 
those he might choose to perform as senior pastor; and 
also to relinquish his salary if the Society felt that with 
their whole means they would be able to secure the ser- 
vices of one who would again unite them together. Accord- 
ingly, Sept. 28, 1845, the proprietors were called together, 
and his proposition was accepted. They also unanimously 
invited the Rev. E. H. Chapin to become junior pastor at 
a yearly salary of two thousand dollars, and on the 8th of 
November the following acceptance of their call was re- 
ceived by the committee, through whom the invitation was 
tendered : — 



26 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



Charlestown, Nov. 8, 1845. 
Brethren, — The invitation to become associate pastor of your 
Society, which you have extended to me, is hereby accepted. Pre- 
liminaries relative to the time when I can assume my connection 
with you must be the subject of future communications. And that 
God may bless this decision to your good, to mine, and to His 
glory, is the prayer of 

Yours fraternally, 

E. H. Chapin. 

To the Committee. 

Brother Chapin was installed Jan. 28, 1846. The 
sermon was delivered by Father Ballou, from 1 Peter 
iv. 10, 11. Rev. Messrs. Cook, Hichborn, Streeter, 
H. Ballou, 2d, Skinner, Fay, and Cleverly, took parts 
in the services. 

" At the annual meeting in May, 1846, a committee was 
appointed to express to Rev. Hosea Ballou the feelings of 
high regard unanimously cherished towards him by the 
society, in consideration of his long and valuable services 
as their pastor; and to assure him that their prayers for his 
welfare were still with him in his relations as senior pastor of 
the society. To this the following reply was received by the 
committee : — 

Boston, May 25, 1846. 

Messrs. Benajah Brigham, Joseph Lincoln, and Bela Beal: 

Brethren, — After having enjoyed so many years of pastoral 
connection with the Second Universalist Society in this city, and 
having served the same for so long a time with constant solicitude 
for their spiritual prosperity and with a consciousness of my imper- 
fections, I find that words are insufficient to express the satisfaction 
I feel on the reception of the unanimous vote of the society expres- 
sive of their approbation of my services as pastor, and their prayers 
for my happiness in my present position as senior. You will, 
brethren, accept my thanks for the acceptable manner in which 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



27 



you have communicated the vote of the society to me, and assure 
the society of my fervent prayer for their spiritual prosperity under 
their junior pastor. 

In the bonds of the Gospel, 

Hosea Ballou. 

" At the annual meeting in 1847, the Standing Committee 
were directed to invite Father Ballou to sit for his portrait, 
and that the same when finished be placed in Murray Hall. 
This work was successfully executed, and Father Ballou 
expressed himself highly complimented by the action of the 
society in regard to it. [This portrait now hangs in the 
lecture-room of this church.] 

" Early in 1848 the society were called together to act 
upon the following letter from Brother Chapin : — 

Boston, Feb. 5, 1848. 
Brethren, — After, as I trust, deliberate and proper considera- 
tion, I have concluded to take up my connection with your society 
and accept of the invitation from New York. I might extend this 
letter to great length and yet not express the feelings with which I 
do this act. I can only say that I do so with the utmost kindness 
and with deep gratitude, and shall always cherish, with unalloyed 
satisfaction, the harmonious season we have passed together. I 
invoke God's blessing upon the society you represent, and to you 
personally tender the warmest sentiments of regard. 

Fraternally yours, 

E. H. Chapin. 

To the Standing Committee. 

" At the same meeting, Feb. 20, 1848, Rev. A. A. Miner 
was invited to become the junior pastor of the society at the 
same salary which had been paid Brother Chapin, and on the 
15th of March the committee received the following letter, 
accepting the invitation : — 

Lowell, March 15, 1848. 
Brethren, — The invitation which I received at your hands, to 
become the associate pastor of the Second Society of Universalists 



28 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



in Boston, has been considered and is hereby accepted. Although 
this decision seemed compatible with my duty, it has not been ar- 
rived at without a severe trial, both on account of the existing ties 
it will sever, and of my conscious unfitness for so responsible a sta- 
tion. Trusting, however, in Him who is always able to help us, I 
remain 

Yours in the Gospel, 

A. A. Miner. 

To the Committee. 

" On the last Sunday in April Brother Chapin preached 
his farewell sermon from the text, ' And now, brethren, I 
commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is 
able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among 
them which are sanctified.' (Acts xx. 32.) 

"Brother Miner was installed May 31. Sermon by Mr. 
Chapin, from John x. 10. The other services were per- 
formed by Rev. Messrs. Dennis, Mott, Ballou, H. Ballou, 
2d, Fay, Streeter, and Cook. 

" Under the ministry of Brother Chapin, the Society was 
united and prosperous; and under the present ministry of 
Brother Miner that union and prosperity are unabated. 
May the favor of God grant them a long continuance." 

Thus far Mr. Talbot, writing three years after the 
latter relationship was established. 

Several events along this line of thirty-one years 
should be noted. At the building of the original 
church in School Street, Mr. John Brazer donated a 
clock ; Mr. Lemuel Packard generously donated a 
chandelier. In 1836 the society built the vestry in 
the attic story of the church, long known as Murray 
Hall; and in 1837 the interior of the church was 
altered by a new pulpit, new ceiling, the introduction 
of gas, painting anew, etc., at an expense of about 
five thousand dollars. In 1840 an organ was placed in 



SEVENTY-FIFTH 



ANNIVERSARY. 



2 9 



the church, which later gave place to a larger one — Mr. 
Charles Henderson, Jr., being organist from 1846 to 
1872, when the church was demolished. At an earlier 
period, 1833, and later, the celebrated Miss Charlotte 
Cushman was the leading soprano. Afterward Mrs. J. 
H. Long and Mrs. Minnie Little successively were the 
sopranos, in connection with Mr. S. B. Ball as tenor. 
The music during these years gave great satisfaction. 
Mrs. Little and Mr. Ball served eighteen years. 

In 185 1 the junior pastor [Mr. Miner] was waited 
upon by a committee from Philadelphia, of which the 
late Charles H. Rogers, Esq., was chairman, with 
reference to removal to that city. On consultation 
with the committee of his own society, he declined 
their overtures. The society determined to enter 
at once upon an extensive recast of its church, — 
raising it up, moving it back, rearing a new front, 
making new windows, building a Sunday-school and 
lecture room below the church, etc., etc., all at an 
expense of nearly nineteen thousand dollars. There- 
upon the pastor was given leave of absence for five 
months, which he spent in foreign travel. 

Meanwhile the venerable senior pastor occasionally 
ministered to the congregation, and was always heard 
with interest and profit. When not thus employed 
he commonly ministered to parishes more or less 
distant, which always heard him with delight. His 
last pulpit service was in the Universalist Church of 
Woonsocket, R. I., of which the Rev. John Boyden, 
once a theological student with Mr. Ballou, was at 
that time pastor. 



30 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



Whenever his leisure permitted, he was always in 
the pulpit with his junior. His presence was ever 
inspiring, and his comments most appreciative and 
helpful. On one occasion, at close of services, he re- 
marked, " The devil will never thank you for that 
sermon." His comments were often couched in sim- 
ilar quaintness of expression. The private inter- 
change of calls and other courtesies between the two 
pastors were always of the most cordial character. 
Had they sustained to each other the relation of 
father and son, their intercourse could not have 
been more genial. 

Preparing one morning for attendance upon a con- 
vention at Plymouth, Mr. Ballou was seized with 
faintness, and died on the following Monday, the 
7th of June, 1852. The junior pastor, in company 
with Rev. Thomas Whittemore and Rev. Hosea 
Ballou, 2d, called upon the venerable man but an hour 
or two before his death. His end was peace. 

Thus concludes what may be called the ancient 
history of this church. 

Initial steps in the founding of a college were taken 
in 1847. The result at length was the establishment 
of Tufts on yonder beautiful hill. Its first president, 
Rev. Dr. Ballou, known as Hosea Ballou, 2d, or 
more familiarly as " Cousin," a grand-nephew of 
Hosea Ballou, your pastor, deceased May 27, 1861, 
— a great loss to the college and to our general 
church. 

From various untoward circumstances the condi- 
tion of the college was unsatisfactory. Some students 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



31 



had enlisted in the war. The number in attendance 
did not exceed forty. 

Moreover, its financial condition was well-nigh des- 
perate. Aside from the meagre receipts from tuition, 
the only income was a thousand dollars interest on 
a bond of Mr. Silvanus Packard, a member of this 
parish. The college was eighteen thousand dollars in 
debt, and was increasing its indebtedness at the rate 
of about five thousand dollars a year. 

At an informal meeting of the parish, held June 1, 
1862, the late Dr. T. K. Taylor being moderator, and 
the Hon. Newton Talbot clerk, Thomas A. Goddard 
offered the following preamble and vote, which were 
adopted : — 

" Whereas, it is understood that the Trustees of Tufts Col- 
lege are desirous that our pastor, Rev. A. A. Miner, should 
become the President of this Institution, devoting a portion 
of his time to it, without salary, and without interrupting his 
connection with this society, — 

," Voted, That in view of the present condition of our coun- 
try and the financial condition of the college, we hereby give 
our cordial assent to this arrangement." 

Thus the parish supported its pastor for three and 
a half years, and allowed him to give the greater 
part of his time gratuitously to the college. This 
arrangement lasted, save as respects the salary, more 
than a dozen years, ■ — the pastor generally preach- 
ing, during the early part of this period, one sermon 
to the society and one to the college every Sunday, 
giving instruction in the college on four days of the 
week, and attending to parish work in spare hours. 



32 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 

During the last five of these years he had material 
assistance. 

Of course, I soon set about raising money, and 
my first urgent appeal was to my own parish, se- 
curing a noble response. That appeal was made 
Oct. 4, 1863, and the contribution amounted to 
$15,510.56, of which Thomas A. Goddard gave ten 
thousand. 

This example made possible the raising of consider- 
able sums elsewhere. The State appropriated fifty 
thousand dollars; William J. Walker, M. D., who had 
never been known as a sympathizer with our body, 
called me to visit him at Newport, R. I., giving me 
ten thousand dollars at one time, twenty thousand 
dollars at another, and finally bequeathing to the col- 
lege a large fraction of his great estate. Oliver Dean, 
M. D., and Silvanus Packard, Esq., both members of 
this parish, also left legacies to the college, — the 
latter, of several hundred thousand dollars. 

Of course, this double duty was found very onerous. 
March 14, 1864, the parish, after a conference with 
the pastor, by a unanimous vote, assured him that 
their " love and affection continued unabated," and 
that they " desired him to remain as pastor of the 
Society." To this end, it was proposed that he be 
expected to preach but once each Sunday, the college 
meeting the supply for the other service, to which the 
college " cordially agreed." This arrangement was 
adopted. 

After two more years had elapsed, I sent to the 
parish the following letter : — 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



33 



Boston, March 16, 1866. 
To the Second Society of Universalists : 

Dear Brethren, — Of the eighteen years during which 
I have had the happiness to be connected with you in the 
pastoral relation, nearly four have, with your consent, been 
devoted largely to other interests than those of the parish. 
The sacrifices of the society during those years have been 
great, but I hope not without profit to our infant college. 

Understanding that the Trustees of the college are unwill- 
ing that I shall abandon its charge, and that the parish deem 
it inexpedient that I should wholly dissolve my existing rela- 
tions with it, I shall cordially welcome an associate, should it 
be your pleasure to elect one, and commit to him the direction 
of parochial affairs. 

That the whole matter may be in your hands, I hereby sub- 
mit to you all questions of salary, as regards both amount 
and date of change, for such readjustment as you shall deem 
proper. 

Trusting that the prosperity of the years which have 
passed into history will prove but a prophecy of that yet 
in store for you, 

I remain, with grateful affection, 

Your pastor, 

A. A. Miner. 

The suggestions of this letter were promptly and 
favorably acted upon. Messrs. T. K. Taylor, James 
O. Curtis, James M. Jacobs, J. R. Elliott, and S. P. 
Ridler were made a committee to whom this letter 
was referred, and who were instructed " to present the 
name of a suitable candidate for the office of associate 
pastor, and also to take into consideration the amount 
of salary to be paid to him." 

3 



34 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERS ALISTS. 



On June 7, 1866, this committee reported the name 
of Rev. Rowland Connor, of Concord, N. H., and rec- 
ommended that his salary be twenty-five hundred dol- 
lars, and that the senior's be one thousand dollars, — 
the college, at this time having become self-sustaining, 
paying him three thousand. Mr. Connor was elected, 
and the several recommendations of the committee 
were adopted. Mr. Connor accepted the invitation 
Oct. 24, 1866, but did not enter upon his duties till 
January, 1867. On January 2 he was duly installed, 
— Rev. A. A. Miner preaching the sermon, from 
John vi. 63, and the other parts being borne by 
Rev. Messrs. C. J. White, C. A. Skinner, E. H. Chapin, 
A. J. Patterson, T. B. Thayer, D. C. Delong, and 
O. F. Safford. 

It soon became apparent that the relations of the 
junior pastor were not likely to prove amicable 
relations. 

At a legal meeting of the society, June 27, 1867, 
the Standing Committee presented the following : 

" The Standing Committee of this society have called this 
meeting that they might present to the proprietors a few 
important facts bearing upon the interests of the society. 

" The utterances of this pulpit on most vital Christian 
doctrines for a period of fifty years have been substantially 
uniform. They have affirmed, among other things, the au- 
thenticity of the Holy Scriptures, the divinely inspired 
authority of Christ as a teacher, and the spotlessness of his 
example. Upon the foundation thus laid has the parish 
based its labors as a Christian parish ; guided by these prin- 
ciples, it has sought to make Christ its leader, and to emulate 
his virtues. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



35 



" The long season of rare prosperity which it has enjoyed 
sufficiently attests the vitality and life-giving power of such 
ministrations. 

" It is well known that views the opposite of these have 
been long received by some in this community. In the set- 
tlement of a junior pastor, therefore, we were anxious not to 
change the general character of our labors as a parish, and 
especially not to introduce rationalistic teaching into our pul- 
pit. We wrote Rev. Dr. Fisher on this subject, and some 
of our members conversed freely with the candidate, with a 
view to ascertain his position in these respects, and the evi- 
dence appeared to be satisfactory. 

" Our junior pastor had not been long with us, however, 
before it began to be rumored that he had already shaken 
the confidence of some of his ministering brethren regarding 
his soundness, which rumor was not a little strengthened by 
his placing in the pulpit a man well known to hold extreme 
views in the denial of all distinctively Christian doctrines. 
When asked if he sympathized with those doctrines, he an- 
swered, ' sufficiently to make them no bar to fellowship.' 

" At a later date our junior pastor joined hands with other 
representatives of the foregoing errors in calling a meeting 
at Horticultural Hall for anniversary week, ' to consider the 
conditions, wants, and prospects of free religion in America.' 

" That meeting was characterized by a rejection of the 
Bible as authority and Christ as a leader. Though Brother 
Connor spoke at that meeting, it does not appear that he 
repudiated the unchristian sentiments there uttered ; but he 
did accept an official position in the association formed for 
their furtherance. 

" As such a course was pointedly opposed to the work for 
which we had called him, your committee felt it a duty most 
affectionately to remonstrate with him, sincerely hoping that 
he would perceive the incongruities of his course, and 
hereafter work directly to Christian ends; but their efforts 



36 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



were in vain. They adjourned the meeting, and asked 
him to think of the matter further; but the result was the 
same. 

" After repeated interviews with him by the committee, 
and by the senior pastor at the committee's request, in which 
the impropriety of his course was kindly but vainly urged, 
he still further showed his disregard of counsel by agreeing 
to speak again on religious radicalism at Minot Hall a week 
or two since. 

" Thus our kindest and most fraternal efforts have been 
unavailing, and there remained but two alternatives, either 
to surrender our work pursued for fifty years, or surrender 
him on whom we had in part leaned for the continuance of 
that work. Between the two we could not hesitate. 

" Your committee, therefore, unconditionally recommend 
the adoption of the following vote : That the Rev. Rowland 
Connor be kindly requested to resign his position as our 
junior pastor." 

This vote was adopted. The resignation, however, 
was not presented, and the committee was directed to 
supply the pulpit while the question of resignation 
remained unsettled. 

On the 27th of July, still protesting against the 
action of the society, Mr. Connor tendered his resig- 
nation, to take effect Jan. 1, 1868. These conditions 
being unsatisfactory, at a meeting of the proprietors, 
July 30, he was dismissed. For less than half a year's 
service he was paid more than four fifths of a year's 
salary. Some excellent members of the parish were 
temporarily misled and aggrieved, but soon discover- 
ing their mistake, in a most manly and Christian 
manner they returned to their former relations, where 
they were gladly welcomed. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



37 



What might have become a great disaster was 
averted by the pastor entering upon a discussion of 
the vital elements of Christianity in a somewhat pro- 
tracted series of discourses. 

But there is an element of good in things evil. 
The press of the city, which had had little occasion 
for gratitude to the senior pastor for any high com- 
mendation of its work, took occasion to denounce him, 
as well as his parish, for what it was pleased to call 
their " bigotry and narrowness." The whole public 
was thus made aware that the Universalist Church 
not only adhered indissolubly to temperance, on the 
one hand, but also to Christ and the Bible on the 
other. From that day on the classifying of Univer- 
salists with infidels, atheists, deists, sceptics, and 
drunkards entirely ceased. The work of a liquor 
press accomplished in a month what our whole church 
could not have done in twenty years. 

Having for nearly a year borne the chief burden of 
parochial duties, greatly enhanced by the afflictions 
we had endured, I was much pleased that another 
movement for an associate was about to be made, — 
a movement of far greater promise than the experi- 
ence recently concluded. 

On March 31, 1868, the Rev. Henry Irving Cush- 
man was invited to the office of associate pastor at a 
salary of three thousand dollars. 

At the same meeting it was "Voted, That it is the 
earnest desire of this society that the relation of Dr. 
Miner to it, as senior pastor, may be a permanent 
one." 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



Accompanying the formal vote, the Standing 
Committee addressed to the Rev. H. I. Cushman 
the following letter, suggested no doubt by their then 
recent experience : — 

Rev. Henry I. Cushman: 

Dear Sir, — We have the pleasure to communicate to 
you the following vote passed unanimously at a meeting 
of the Second Society of Universalists in this city held 
March 31 : — 

" Voted, That we invite the Rev. Henry I. Cushman to 
•become associate pastor of the society at an annual salary 
of three thousand dollars." 

In extending to you this unanimous invitation to become 
the associate of Rev. Dr. Miner, it is not improper that we 
should tell you frankly that we do it in the belief that you 
are a distinctive Universalist, — a denominational Universal- 
ist ; and that while you will devote all your energies to the 
spiritual good of your parishioners and the upbuilding of our 
parish, you will at the same time neglect nothing which will 
tend to the good of the whole denomination. 

It is needless, perhaps, for us to say that we look upon 
our beloved pastor, Dr. Miner, with sentiments of love and 
respect which twenty years of devotion to his society and to 
the interests of our denomination, as well as to the highest 
good of humanity, could alone engender; and while we shall 
greet you warmly as his associate, we trust we shall long 
look up to him with grateful love as our senior pastor. 

We may also frankly tell you that, believing fully in the 
independence of the pulpit, we still think it the duty of the 
pastor to consult at all times the true interests of the parish; 
to this end we recommend a frequent and candid commu- 
nication between pastor and the Standing Committee. By 
this means our sainted Father Ballou and our good Dr. Miner 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



39 



have always maintained the most amicable understanding with 
the society. 

We are aware that in inviting you into this portion of the 
Master's field we may be placing a heavy burden on your 
shoulders, for all the parochial duty of visiting, and most of 
the other parochial duties, will fall upon you ; still, we have 
that confidence in your ability, your good judgment, and 
your Christian character, that, with the blessing of God, 
which we fervently invoke, you will succeed in making 
yourself beloved of this people, and respected by all good 
men. 

Finally, while we propose to you to assume these respon- 
sible duties, we hope not on our part to be wanting in our 
own share of them ; we believe we can promise you all co- 
operation and assistance it is in our power to give you, both 
as a society and individually. 

Trusting that we may receive a favorable response to this 
invitation, we have the honor to be, on behalf of the society, 
Yours fraternally, 

James M. Jacobs, 
Thomas A. Goddard, 
William Robinson, 
Stephen Stoddard, 
Henry T. Spear, 
David Chamberlain, 
James D. Perkins, 

Standing Committee. 

REV. MR. CUSHMAN'S REPLY. 

DEAR BRETHREN, — Your communication announcing the 
vote passed at a meeting of your society held in the vestry 
of School Street Church on the evening of March 31, 1868, 
inviting me to the position of associate pastor, is received. 



4Q 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERS ALISTS. 



In reply I can but express, in the first place, my hearty 
appreciation of the high compliment which I feel such a vote 
conveys to me. 

It is not without a deep feeling of the great responsibility 
which the position involves, nor is it without much thought 
and prayer, that I accept your invitation upon the terms 
mentioned in the vote. 

I read with much satisfaction your expression of love and 
respect for your tried and faithful pastor, Dr. Miner; and 
in all these expressions, be assured, I find but my own 
sentiments. 

In your communication you say that you extend the invi- 
tation in the belief that I am a distinctive, a denominational, 
Universalist. If I understand your meaning, I have only to 
say in reply to this, that I regard our beloved faith as the 
most complete expression of Christianity; and that I believe 
our people as a denomination of Christians have a mission 
in history. In this view I shall endeavor to do all in my 
power, with Divine assistance, to advance the interests not 
only of a particular parish, but of the denomination at large, 
believing that thus I should be best advancing the cause of 
Christ in the world. 

I desire to thank you for your kind promise of co-opera- 
tion in all matters pertaining to the parish, and I trust by 
faithfulness to merit such co-operation. 

In conclusion, now, it is not improper for me to refer to 
one or two matters of detail, namely : I should be willing to 
leave the supply of the pulpit to be arranged between the 
pastors; I take the liberty to ask the month of August in 
each year for needed rest from labor. 

If, with these considerations, you shall desire to welcome 
me as the associate pastor over your Society, I should feel 
to enter into the relation the first of June of this year; and 
I should do so with full confidence in my senior associate 
and in the society. With a deep sense of my own responsi- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 



41 



bility, and with prayer that " grace, mercy, and peace from 
God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ may be and 
abide with us forever," 

With much respect I am your brother in Christ, 

Henry Irving Cushman. 

East Cambridge, Mass., April 6, 1S68. 

Under elate of April 2, 1868, the Standing Com- 
mittee addressed a letter touching the foregoing 
action, and presenting the votes of the proprietors 
on March 31, 1868, to Dr. Miner, of which the fol- 
lowing is a copy : — 

Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D. : 

Beloved Pastor, — At a meeting of the members of the 
Second Society of Universalists held on the 31st ultimo, it 
was unanimously voted to invite Rev. Henry I. Cushman to 
become your associate in the pastorate of the School Street 
Church. 

At the same meeting (as you have already been verbally 
informed) a vote was passed, also unanimously, expressive 
of the desire of the society that your connection with it as 
senior pastor should be a permanent one. That vote is in 
these words : — 

" Voted, That it is the earnest desire of this society that 
the relation of Dr. Miner to it as senior pastor may prove 
a permanent one ; and that the Standing Committee consult 
with him and report at the adjourned meeting the amount of 
salary to be paid him." 

As remarked above, these words express the desire of the 
society ; but they fall far short of expressing the feeling of 
affection and esteem, as well as of high respect, towards you, 
which found utterance at that meeting, and which were but 
an echo of the general voice of your parishioners. 



42 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 



This society has always been ready to do its share 
towards any object where the good of the Universalist de- 
nomination was concerned. In a great measure you have 
educated them up to this high standard; your words and 
your deeds have alike inspired them. Thus, when it became 
apparent that, all circumstances considered, it was best that 
you should take the presidency of Tufts College, much as 
they wanted you all the time at School Street, yet the gen- 
eral good of our cause was felt to be paramount to their own 
desires, and they assented to your becoming the head of the 
college. 

Be assured, dear sir, that nothing would have prevailed 
upon them to consent to this but the belief that the general 
good of the Universalist cause demanded your services at 
the college. 

Be assured, also, that the respect, esteem, and affection 
which they bear you now will continue to be uppermost in 
their hearts ; and their hope is a sincere one that your con- 
nection with them as senior pastor may be long continued. 

They will hope to hear as often as possible your exhorta- 
tions from the pulpit; and their earnest prayer will ascend 
to our Almighty Father that health and happiness may be 
the portion of yourself and of your estimable companion, 
with both of whom they have passed so many pleasant years 
in the past, and hope yet to pass many more in the future. 

In behalf of the Standing Committee I am, dear sir, affec- 
tionately yours, 

James M. Jacobs, Chairman. 

DR. MINER'S REPLY. 

April 14, 1868. 

To the Second Universalist Society, Boston : 

Dear BRETHREN, — Your communication of April 3, in- 
forming me of the election of Rev. H. I. Cushman as asso- 
ciate pastor, and expressing the desire that my own relations 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



43 



to the parish as senior pastor may be permanent, has been 
received and duly considered. 

It will give me great pleasure to welcome to the field of 
labor I have so long occupied one whose character, educa- 
tion, and consecration through faith, as I believe, give so 
great promise of usefulness. 

Reciprocating in the fullest measure the sentiments of 
kindness and confidence which your committee have ex- 
pressed to me, I shall deem it a high satisfaction and honor 
to continue in the senior pastorate as long as the general 
interests of our Zion shall seem to require. 

I am especially gratified, brethren, that in the communi- 
cation referred to you do not forget the interests of our cause 
in the great field of the world. In tendering you my con- 
gratulations on your honorable record in endeavoring to 
occupy this field in the past, I have the fullest confidence 
that you will continue to be a noble example of a truly 
Christian Church. 

With sentiments of respect, I am yours in the faith of 
Christ, 

A. A. Miner. 

This correspondence, be it remembered, was nearly 
a year after the removal of Mr. Connor, and fully a 
year after the newspaper predictions of ruin to the 
parish from my six weeks' successful defence of the 
prohibitory law at the State House against ex- 
Governor Andrew and the merchants of Boston. 

The installation of the Rev. Mr. Cushman took 
place on Wednesday evening, June 3, Dr. Miner 
preaching the sermon, from Matthew vi. 10, and the 
other parts being distributed among Rev. Messrs. 
Russ, Boyden, Chambre, Saftord, Briggs, and Leonard. 



44 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



The confidence reposed in Mr. Cushman was in no 
degree misplaced. His high Christian character, his 
generous culture, his gentlemanly bearing and warmth 
of affection won to him at once the love and esteem of 
the entire parish. 

The relations also between the two pastors were of 
the most confidential and harmonious character. 

At the annual meeting held March 15, 1869, a com- 
mittee consisting of H. T. Spear, Moses Fairbanks, 
T. Albert Taylor, James M. Jacobs, and Stephen 
Stoddard, was chosen to consider the expediency of 
changing location and disposing of the School Street 
property. 

April 12, 1869, that committee reported : — 

" It is apparent to your committee that, while not pre- 
pared to recommend a change in location at present, the great 
value of our property, together with our limited accommo- 
dations, particularly in the vestry, will render such a course 
advisable sooner or later, and in view of these facts we re- 
spectfully recommend that a lot of land suitable for our 
purposes be secured." 

This report was adopted, and another committee 
selected to recommend a suitable site. 

At a meeting held May n, 1869, the site at the 
corner of Columbus Avenue and Berkeley and Isa- 
bella streets (on which the Presbyterian Church now 
stands) was recommended ; but a motion to purchase 
the same was rejected, 22 yeas, 23 nays. On the 18th 
of May a motion to reconsider was lost by a vote of 
23 yeas to 36 nays. This matter then rested. 

The year 1870 was the centennial of Murray's land- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



45 



ing on the New Jersey coast. It was made the occa- 
sion for a vigorous financial effort. A fund, to be 
known as the Murray Fund, was raised by our general 
church that year amounting to fifty thousand dollars, 
of which this parish donated nearly seven thousand 
dollars. The fund has since been increased to one 
hundred and twenty thousand dollars. 

Massachusetts alone that year paid church in- 
debtedness to the amount of sixty-five thousand 
dollars, and for buying, building, and repairing 
churches and church property, two hundred and 
forty thousand dollars more. 

On Jan. 30, 1 871, Newton Talbot, A. A. Miner, 
Moses Fairbanks, J. D. Perkins, T. Albert Taylor, 
and James M. Jacobs were made a committee to 
select a site and report. 

Feb. 27, 1 87 1, Mr. Talbot for the committee re- 
ported that they had not found a lot at a price which 
they could recommend the society to pay. This re- 
port was accepted, but the same committee were au- 
thorized, under certain limitations as to location and 
terms of payment, to make a purchase. The result 
was the purchase of the lot on which the Columbus 
Avenue Church now stands, and the parish proceeded 
with the necessary measures for building. The cor- 
ner-stone of the new edifice was laid Sept. 13, 1871. 
T. J. Sawyer, D. D., offered the introductory prayer, 
Dr. Miner gave the address, and Mr. Cushman the 
concluding prayer. The Rev. L. L. Briggs also par- 
ticipated. 

On Sunday, May 5, 1872, before abandoning the 



46 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



dear old church in School Street, memorial services 
were held, an excellent historical sermon was given by 
Mr. Cushman, a letter from the senior pastor, who was 
travelling in the South, was read, and others partici- 
pated in the service. 

The society occupied the new lecture room Sept. 1, 
1872, Dr. Miner preaching the sermon, from Ezra vii. 
20. The dedication of the church took place Dec. 5, 
1872 ; address by the senior pastor, and Rev. Messrs. 
Cushman, Sawyer, Francis, and Vibbert participating. 

The cost of the church was a little less than one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The acoustic 
properties, however, proved so unsatisfactory that the 
interior was recast in 1887, at an expense of nearly 
fourteen thousand dollars. 

The parish proceeded to erect a business block on 
the site of the old church, the fee of which it still 
holds. A fine financial outlook was suddenly dark- 
ened by the sweeping conflagration of November, 
1872. Some were entirely stripped of their posses- 
sions, but were by no means ruined. 

One stout-hearted and brave man, whose little all 
had gone up in smoke, came with his wife into the 
lecture-room on Sunday morning, while the flames 
were still raging, and took his seat with as much com- 
posure and devotion as though he had just come into 
a fortune. A loss of even a hundred thousand, aside 
from individual losses, was among the consequences 
to the society. It is, therefore, a matter of gratitude 
that the society, in its current workings and as re- 
spects its church edifice, is free of incumbrance ; and 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



47 



that it has a handsome interest in the School Street 
property, the unexpended income of which it is an- 
nually funding to strengthen that interest. Meantime 
it has never failed to contribute to outside interests 
the full sum allotted to it by the conventions, and for 
a series of years has bestowed elsewhere on an average 
as much more in the same lines. 

At the annual meeting, March 18, 1872, the society, 
always generous, of its own motion, added an equal 
sum to the salary of each of its pastors, and at the 
same time voted to tender to their senior, and ear- 
nestly desire him to accept, a release from all pulpit 
and parochial duties from that date until the comple- 
tion of the new church, and that his salary be con- 
tinued during said time. The senior pastor availed 
himself of this opportunity to spend several months in 
travelling with his wife in Florida and other parts of 
the South, and later, the College Commencement 
passed, among the hills of New Hampshire. 

Early in the year 1874 the trustees of our general 
convention urgently requested your senior pastor to 
go out to San Francisco to rescue our cause from 
threatening mischiefs in that city of great possibilities. 
He left Boston February 10, accompanied by his wife, 
and his mission was attended with eminent success, 
largely through the most efficient efforts of that noble 
worker, Mr. Ira G. Hoyt, of San Francisco. Disas- 
ters later befell the enterprise, which cannot be here 
detailed. 

There had been numerous appeals to the presi- 
dent of the college to cut loose from the parish 



48 SECOND SOCIETY OF UN1VERSALISTS. 



and remove to the college. Notwithstanding the 
valuable aid of a colleague, the double relation was 
still onerous. The president was at the college four 
and sometimes five days in the week, making his visits 
sometimes on horseback, sometimes by carriage, and 
sometimes by rail. Both situations were desirable ; 
both offered large inducements ; both commanded 
my full sympathies. The trustees of the college of- 
fered to erect for me a satisfactory residence. But I 
had a home in Boston ; I had grown into Boston sur- 
roundings ; my wife preferred to spend the remainder 
of her days among long-tried friends ; I felt that her 
preferences were as sacred as my own ; hence, after 
twelve and a half years of service, I resigned my con- 
nection with the college, and took up again full parish 
work. 

Meantime the junior pastor, Rev. Dr. Cushman, 
accepted a call to Providence, where he has won for 
himself general respect throughout that city. 

Sixteen more busy years had passed. I desired to 
lay aside some portion of my inevitable work. Having 
been a member of the State Board of Education since 
1869, and chairman of the board of visitors of the 
State Normal Art School for most of that time ; hav- 
ing been fifty years in the very heat of the temperance 
conflict which does not even now promise a speedy 
solution ; having through all my ministry occasionally 
pointed out the antagonism of Romish policy to our 
free schools and free institutions generally; having be- 
come, through the force of circumstances, the chairman 
of the " Committee of One Hundred," and feeling a 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



49 



quick sympathy with the Peace movement and various 
other social problems of our time, — I felt I should 
not lack for topics of personal interest were I relieved 
from the stress of parochial duties and of weekly pre- 
paration for the pulpit. Though not forgetting the 
desire of the parish, as expressed twenty-three years 
before (1868), for my permanent connection with it, I 
was not willing to presume at all upon action taken 
almost a generation since, and therefore on the forty- 
third anniversary of my settlement, May 3, 189 1, I 
proffered outright my resignation. 

The result you know. You were pleased to con- 
tinue your long-time pastor as senior, and by a un- 
animous vote in November of that year called Rev. 
Stephen H. Roblin to the office of pastor. He 
promptly accepted your call, and was installed in 
that office, Jan. 10, 1892, the senior pastor preaching 
the sermon, from 2 Tim. iv. 5, the other parts being 
rendered by Rev. Messrs. Dillingham, Biddle, Wood- 
bridge, and Leonard. A year has now passed, and 
our junior pastor has already, by his genial qualities, 
his excellent pulpit abilities, and his gentlemanly 
bearing, taken a high position both in the parish and 
in the city at large. Moreover, the mutual love and 
confidence between junior and senior are everything 
that could be desired. 

The officers of the society have been men of weight, 
and of high moral character and official responsibility. 
In 1878 the Hon. Newton Talbot declined re-election 
as clerk, stating that either as a member of the Stand- 
ing Committee or as clerk, he had served the society 

4 



50 SECOND SOCIETY OF UN I VERSALISTS. 



ever since 1845, thirty-three years, for the last seven 
years adding also the duties of treasurer. His wish 
was respected, and a warm vote of thanks was ten- 
dered him. Since that, he has added fourteen years 
more of service as chairman of the Standing Commit- 
tee and member of the board of trustees of the School 
Street property, making forty-seven years of continu- 
ous official service. This latter position he still holds. 
Many others, in the earlier and in the later times, have 
rendered like most honorable service. Among the 
latter may be mentioned Dr. Guild, Jacobs, Ridler, 
Spear, Simonds, Norris, Masury, Johnson, of the de- 
parted ; and Folsom, Clinton Viles, A. E. Viles, Wil- 
liams, Whittemore, Fairbanks, Forristall, Morrison, 
Armstrong, Parker, Robinson, Bicknell, Gleason, of 
those still living. 

The church organization also, which adopted its 
covenant on the third Sunday in December, 181 7, 
and whose seventy-fifth anniversary, therefore, we are 
more exactly celebrating, has had a most honorable 
history, and infused a quickening influence into all 
the movements of the parish. It has received to its 
membership more than a thousand persons, very few 
of whom have ever dishonored their profession. 

The clerkship was filled with wonderful efficiency 
many years by John M. Lincoln, whose excellent wife 
still discharges its duties. In earlier times Charles 
Henderson, Sr., and in later times, John M. Lincoln 
and A. C. Masury, many years each, discharged the 
duties of treasurer. The office is now filled by Lewis 
H. Wood. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



51 



Its list of deacons contains most honorable names : 
Powars, Barry, Metcalf, Brigham, Wing (son-in-law 
of Father Ballou), Joseph Lincoln, Sr., Edmund 
Wright, and Thomas A. Goddard, all of whom de- 
ceased before our entrance into this church, and to 
whom was erected yonder memorial window ; Safford, 
Curtis, Jacobs, Ridler, Norris, and Masury, deceased 
since we entered this church ; and Crocker, Rogers, 
Potter, A. L. Lincoln, Jack, Park, and Babbidge, who 
are still living, — twenty-one in all. 

Various associations of ladies, especially the " Miner 
Charitable Society," have done great service in many 
ways. Presided over by Mrs. Joseph Lincoln, Sr., 
Mrs. Warren Bolles, Mrs. Moses Mellen, of the ear- 
lier time, and Mrs. Elliott, Mrs. Cushman, Mrs. 
Leonard, Mrs. Chubbuck, Mrs. H. M. Lincoln, Mrs. 
Huckins, of the later time, its labors have secured 
large measures of usefulness. Efficient were they also 
in raising the large amount for the Murray Fund. 

It remains for me to speak of the Sunday-school 
interest. In 1848, I found a school of eighty mem- 
bers, with an average attendance for the two preced- 
ing years of sixty. Holding its sessions in Murray 
Hall, an exceedingly inconvenient location, it never- 
theless grew under the superintendence of Thomas 
A. Goddard to the crowding of its quarters. In the 
new vestry below the church, it continued to increase 
until it numbered between four and five hundred. 
Our tribulations in 1867 somewhat diminished our 
numbers, and removal to this part of the city ap- 
peared to tend in the same direction. Our present 



52 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



number of about two hundred appears to promise an 
increase. 

The office of superintendent has always been 
worthily filled. B. B. Mussey, William E. Stowe, 
Col. Isaac H. Wright, (son-in-law of Father Ballou), 
and Edwin Howland, in the earlier time ; and of the 
later time, Thomas A. Goddard, James D. Perkins, 
Dr. H. I. Cushman, and B. B. Whittemore (son of 
Rev. Dr. Benjamin Whittemore, and grandson of 
Father Ballou), who is the present superintendent, 
have generally brought to their work marked ability, 
and most of them have served for a protracted period. 

In this respect, however, Mr. Goddard led the whole 
list, having served thirty-one years, including two years 
abroad, during which he held the office. His large 
means, relative freedom from family cares, and his 
warm sympathy and Christian prayers for the young, 
crave him an influence to which few men can attain. 
Yonder window on my right, the gift of Mrs. Goddard, 
commemorates this service. He was in every way a 
tower of strength to the parish. 

Let it not for a moment be supposed, however, that 
in mentioning some names we undervalue the great 
service of many others. All along the line of parish, 
church, and Sunday-school interests there have been 
numerous workers, skilful, prudent, diligent, and effi- 
cient, who would have been a high honor to any cause 
to which they might have devoted themselves. 

Thus will it be seen that the society has maintained 
marked stability in all the great lines of Christian 
effort, notwithstanding its large contribution of mem- 




OLD SCHOOL-STREET CHURCH. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



53 



bers to many of the suburban parishes. It has always 
been most generous and most considerate towards 
its pastors, two of whom cover the whole period of its 
history, and overlap each other four years. 

The past is secure. The blessing of God has won- 
derfully crowned our labors. We cannot doubt that 
like blessings, and even greater measures of success, 
may be ours in the years to come. Let the prayer of 
Moses in the text for the chosen people, — "The Lord 
God of your Fathers make you a thousand times as 
many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath prom- 
ised you," — let this be the earnest prayer of your 
hearts, and there shall be no narrow limits to your 
success. The same personal fidelity, steadfast resist- 
ance to the encroachments of secularism, pure deep 
devotion to things highest and best, and prompt and 
united following of your Christian leaders, may give 
you a future that will even far outshine the most bril- 
liant chapters of the past. Then will you have no 
occasion to rebuild fallen walls, but will enjoy the 
honor of gilding and glorifying the walls already 
builded. The peace of God be with you. 



ADDRESSES. 



ADDRESSES. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

By Rev. STEPHEN HERBERT ROBLIN. 

IV >T Y FRIENDS, — In looking over the reach of 
years extending to the inauguration of this 
church, one is profoundly impressed with the exceed- 
ingly stirring times which are thus covered, with the 
great achievements wrought within its limits. It is 
not my intention to enumerate the striking features 
of the nineteenth century, but I do desire to call atten- 
tion to the facts that this church had its birth and has 
had its continued life in the greatest country, in the 
greatest age, and amid the greatest movements in the 
history of the world. That this is so because God 
directs and ordains, I have no doubt, and therefore 
believe we are engaged in a service to-night which 
shall have a fitting place among the events which 
mark the annals of time. 

This church has a sure position among the his- 
torical factors of the century, because it has made 
history. Its first pastor, with vigorous mind, un- 
daunted courage and consecrated grace, cut out a 



58 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



distinct and wide path through the tangled wilder- 
ness of theological dogma, and found it led into the 
open highway of truth unto God. His successor, 
with no less courage and fidelity, and with consum- 
mate ability, has kept that pathway constantly open, 
and by dealing with educational, political, ethical, and 
humane affairs, has carried the name of this church 
and the fame of this pastorate into ever widening 
circles of thought and life. You may be sure that 
in accepting the responsibility of this pastorate I had 
many misgivings as to the possible continuance of the 
work on so large a scale and high a plane as to com- 
mand unbrokenly the attention of the commonwealth 
and the nation ; and after a year of constant industry, 
I have yet to discover a new field wherein to plant 
the historic standard and wave the good old banners. 
If any conviction is mine to-night, it is this: so only 
can we do by a renewed emphasis of the " glorious 
gospel " and a constant application of its grace and 
power to the needs of mankind. 

Though we are dealing largely with history to-night, 
that which can be externally recognized and tabulated, 
I am impressed with the belief that we are invited to 
discern the deeper, mightier, and more abiding veri- 
ties which lie beneath all records, which cannot be 
described by words, which issue from the life, and 
love, and consecrated godliness of the innumerable 
hosts who have found here the significance of right- 
eousness on earth, and have obtained confidence of an 
abiding faith in the eternity of heaven. This church, 
therefore, has found strength because the spirit of the 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



59 



great Teacher abides here, and has abode from the 
first so far as consistent, prayerful, faithful souls could 
command its presence. The church represents an 
unbroken life of consecration and fidelity. Though 
its membership has lived devotedly, served faithfully, 
and passed away, still the new life coming in has so 
partaken of the old life which has gone up higher, 
that it has been continually and pre-eminently Chris- 
tian. It is not only, then, the historical record of an 
institution seventy-five years old we commemorate, 
but in a higher and truer sense the Church of the 
abiding God, a living power of faith and righteous- 
ness. 

Where so much has been achieved and such fruits 
of surpassing value now appear as a part of the life of 
this sanctuary, we who labor in its service may well 
concern ourselves about these and future days. How 
shall we so serve as to make the to-days and to-mor- 
rows as valuable as the yesterdays ? The world is 
just as wide, its needs as great, God as powerful, 
Christ as helpful, man as teachable as ever before. 
To have the tide running high evermore, we must 
keep the channels open toward heaven. There is to 
be no going backward, I am sure each will affirm, and 
there is a determination to reach forward and gather 
as many of the golden sheaves as God will permit 
an ardent, industrious, faithful band, which in all its 
desires seeks but to glean for His joy and man's uplift. 
Fellow-toilers, may we find a new consecration at this 
altar to-night, and thus be able to go into the vineyard 
on the morrow, and without shrinking or tiring labor 



60 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 

for the greatest ends. Conspicuous is this place ; 
mighty are its influences; in humility but with valor- 
ous hearts and untiring hands, and in unswerving 
continuance of faithfulness may we prove our desires 
by our works. 

Thus briefly have I outlined the thought of the 
hour, and these honored brethren who have come 
at our bidding will conduct us into the fruitful 
fields suggested, and from their own wealth make 
us also rich. But before we call upon them for 
their word of greeting, encouragement, instruction, 
let us approach the Father of us all on the melo- 
dious wings of the favorite of hymns, " Nearer, my 
God, to Thee." 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



61 



HOSEA BALLOU. 

AN ESTIMATE. 
By PRESIDENT ORELLO CONE, D. D. 

It is generally conceded that a man who has exerted 
a considerable influence upon his contemporaries finds 
his fairest and most impartial judges in succeeding 
generations. The mental vision of those who have 
been under the spell of his personality is affected by 
a glamour which distorts the judgment and induces a 
one-sided verdict. This third generation since Hosea 
Ballou was at the zenith of his power should, accord- 
ingly, be able to furnish the justest and most unbiased 
judgment of his character and work. To such a judg- 
ment, however, it is manifest that other conditions are 
necessary than that of remoteness in time from the 
period of his activity. While a violent prejudice for 
or against a popular leader must necessarily pervert the 
judgment of a man even in the third generation, the ab- 
sence of sympathy with his work and aims constitutes 
a disqualification in a judge, whether near or remote. 
It is equally true that every judgment of such a man 
must be defective which does not proceed from the 
historical sense, or the faculty by which one is enabled 
to realize with a certain vividness and with keen ap- 
preciation the conditions of life existing in a past time 
more or less remote. For while there are certain 



62 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



criteria of greatness which are valid in all times, the 
judgment of a man's work as to its success or failure 
and of his attainments and mental equipment must be 
determined, if it shall be fair, by due consideration of 
his environment and opportunities. It is obvious that 
his achievement should be judged with reference to 
the difficulties that had to be overcome in compassing 
it, and by the efforts and struggles through which as a 
champion he won his crown. 

Accordingly, a just estimate of Hosea Ballou and his 
work must take its departure from the circumstances 
of his birth and early education, and proceed with con- 
stant reference to his environment. It is recorded in 
his biography that he was born in 1771 in the town 
of Richmond, N. H., of humble parentage and among 
uncultured surroundings. The opportunities for edu- 
cation which Richmond then furnished were of the 
most meagre kind, and his parents were too poor to 
afford him such privileges of the schools as might then 
have been enjoyed in the centres of culture. It was with 
the greatest difficulty that he acquired the merest rudi- 
ments of an English education, studying by the light 
of pine knots and attending school but a few months, 
and only after he was nineteen years old. His father, 
though a minister, was not a man of liberal education, 
and served his people as pastor without stated com- 
pensation, while he supported himself and his family 
by the labor of his hands. The family was pitiably 
destitute of books, and cut off from intellectual com- 
munication with the world. Reared amid conditions 
so unfavorable to mental development, a young man 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



63 



must evidently possess unusual ability who rises out 
of them to the leadership and eminence attained by 
Mr. Ballou. Only rare powers are capable of such an 
achievement. 

Doubtless some credit should be given to the young 
Hosea's religious education, if a bad religion is better 
than no religion at all. If there is any salutary influ- 
ence in the fear of God, he had the full benefit of it in 
its most unmitigated terrors, and was surrounded with 
the atmosphere of the sort of trembling, shrinking 
worship which it inspires. It was his good fortune 
that, though early deprived of a mother's care and 
training, he was reared amid wholesome moral influ- 
ences, despite the defective theory of morals in which 
he was educated. The practice, as is often the case, 
was here better than the theory. The doctrine of the 
Divine wrath may have salutary moral effects before 
the understanding apprehends the illogical religious 
postulates which are connected with it, such as that 
while it is most of all things to be feared, morality is 
no security against it. Mr. Ballou himself has forcibly 
characterized the moral theory taught him in early life 
in these words : — 

" One of the worst things ever taught to youth is that in this 
world there is more enjoyment in the ways of vice, iniquity, 
and unrighteousness than in obedience to the commandments 
of God. But we were taught at the same time that the wicked 
were running a fearful risk, for should they die without repent- 
ance their everlasting condemnation was sure. All the risk 
there was lay in the possibility that death might be sudden, 
and give no place for repentance. But the fact that there is 



6 4 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



in the way of strict morality, in the path of true religion, in 
the road of righteousness, all the rational enjoyment of which 
our nature is capable, and that any departure from right is an 
equal departure from true happiness, was not taught to my 
knowledge at that time. Nor did I ever understand this 
great truth until taught it by the Scriptures and by my own 
experience." 

Hosea Ballou's father was a minister of the Calvin- 
istic Baptist Church, and it was in this grim and 
relentless theology that he was reared. " We were all 
taught," he says, " and in our youth believed, that we 
were born into the world wholly depraved, and under 
the curse of a law which doomed every son and 
daughter of Adam to eternal woe. At the same time, 
God had made provision for a select number of the 
human family, whereby they would be saved by the 
operations of the Divine Spirit, which would operate 
in what was called conversion, some time during the 
life of those elected. Those who were not elected 
would remain without any effectual calling, die, and 
be forever miserable. When I was a youth, it was the 
sentiment of all Christian people, as far as I knew, 
that not more than one in a thousand of the human 
family would be saved from endless condemnation." 
Born into this theological atmosphere, rocked in his 
cradle by Calvinism, and being naturally of a religious 
turn of mind, it is not surprising that at an early age 
he yielded to the influences about him, and became a 
member of his father's church. An ordinary young 
man would have remained in this communion. But 
Hosea Ballou was not an ordinary young man. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



65 



Thoughtful, sincere, conscientious, and fearless, he 
was not long in discovering and openly proclaiming 
the moral monstrosities, the logical defects, and the 
spiritual barrenness of the Calvinistic system, and was 
very soon excommunicated from the church for hold- 
ing Universalist opinions. It is a fine mark of his 
sincerity that he says, " I shall ever remember the tears 
which I shed on this solemn occasion." It is remark- 
able that this separation from the church in which he 
had been reared, costing him both pain and obloquy, 
was apparently brought about largely by his own study 
of the Bible, and the wrestling of his own reason with 
the problems presented by Calvinism. As a sample 
of the inquiries which he raised may be instanced the 
following question put to his father in one of the 
many discussions engaged in with him : " Suppose I 
had the skill and power out of an inanimate substance 
to make an animate, and should make one, at the 
same time knowing that this creature of mine would 
suffer everlasting misery, would my act of creating 
this creature be an act of goodness ? " We are not 
surprised to learn that this question "troubled" his 
father, and that it received no answer. The only 
answer that Calvinism has ever been able to make 
to it is a warning against the use of reason upon 
religious problems. 

Had Hosea Ballou not been born to be a preacher, 
he might have kept his new-found faith and hope to 
himself. But to preach was his manifest destiny. 
Under different circumstances, modesty might have 
dictated silence until a thorough preparation by study 

5 



06 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 



and discipline should have fitted him for the respon- 
sible office of a public teacher of religion. But he 
had been reared amid associations in which little was 
known of a high standard of intellectual and scholas- 
tic preparation for the ministry. It is not surprising, 
then, that when, according to his own statement, he 
was " overpersuaded " by his friends, his natural incli- 
nation should have prevailed over the dictates of mod- 
esty and his own better judgment, and have sent him 
into the pulpit. His is not the first case of the early 
failure of men who have afterwards become great 
orators. Chagrined and ashamed at his defeat in his 
first attempts at preaching, the young man was not 
disheartened. Like Richard Brinsley Sheridan, he 
felt that the oratorical power " was in him, and must 
come out." 

In the autumn of 1794 there occurred at Oxford, 
Mass., an event which was of great importance to the 
young Ballou, then twenty-three years of age, and 
to the cause which he had espoused. It was his 
informal ordination, — a spontaneous, prophetic act, 
performed by Rev. Elhanan Winchester on the occa- 
sion of the meeting of the New England Convention 
of Universalists. Following this expression of the 
confidence of his brethren is a considerable period 
of active work in the ministry after his marriage. 
The future controversialist and orator trains himself 
in the harness for the greater tasks which await him. 
That this was a period of study, earnest thought, and 
rapid development, we may well believe, though we 
have no precise information regarding the intellectual 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



6 7 



aids that may have been within his reach. It would 
be of great interest if we knew what books he studied 
along with the Bible during this period, and with what 
currents of thought he was in contact. The impor- 
tance of the thinking which he did during this time 
to the future of Universalism is very great. It ap- 
pears that he was meditating upon problems of cen- 
tral importance in every system of Christian theology, 
— those of the nature of Christ and his relation to 
salvation. We know that in his thinking he had 
reached conclusions regarding Christology and sote- 
riology which were at variance with those held by 
Murray and by his brethren generally. He stood, 
perhaps, almost alone in holding opinions adverse to 
the doctrines of the Trinity, the vicarious atonement, 
and original reprobation. 

The results of the young Ballou's earnest reflection 
on these themes are embodied in his most important 
theological work, the " Treatise on the Atonement." 
This book can only be fairly judged when it is con- 
sidered that the author was only thirty-four years old 
when he wrote it; that he had not enjoyed the advan- 
tages of the schools ; that he had had no theological 
education in the ordinary sense of the term; and that 
he was not a trained writer, expert in giving literary 
form and expression to his thoughts. It is a more 
important consideration, and one touching the matter 
of the work, that the " Treatise " was independently 
conceived and executed. The fundamental Unitarian 
doctrines appear to have been elaborated by this soli- 
tary young thinker from a study of the Bible alone, 



68 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERS ALISTS. 



and to some of them he gave as definite and radical 
an expression as Channing and his school afterward 
attained. In the sense that he was unacquainted with 
the writings of the German theologians, and had at 
the time almost no knowledge of theological literature 
in general, the work must be regarded as original ; 
and he must be accorded the honor of being pre- 
eminently the pioneer in this line of thought in 
America. He himself says, with characteristic mod- 
esty, in 1844: "When more than forty years ago I 
wrote my ' Notes ' and ' Treatise ' I had never seen 
any work in defence of the doctrine of the Divine 
Unity, and the dependence of the Son upon the 
Father. When this circumstance is duly considered, 
the reader will be satisfied that the writer must have 
exerted the limited powers of his mind to their utmost 
capacity; this is all the credit he claims." 

It does not comport with the scope of this paper to 
enter upon an elaborate analysis and discussion of the 
" Treatise." Suffice it to say that its fundamental 
positions are that God was never unreconciled to man, 
and that hence Christ did not suffer in order to ap- 
pease the Divine wrath, or to satisfy the Divine law, 
justice, or righteousness. On the contrary, it is main- 
tained that God's love for sinners was the cause of 
Christ's being sent to reconcile them to Him. The 
absurdity of the doctrine that God himself paid the 
penalty assumed to be due Him from man by bearing 
it in the person of Christ, the second person of the 
Trinity, is clearly pointed out. It is taught that Christ 
was a dependent, created being, and of course not 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



6 9 



God. While the reading of " some deistical writings " 
had, according to his own acknowledgment, " no small 
tendency to bring him over to the ground " on which 
he for many years " felt established, 1 ' the working 
out of the doctrines of the " Treatise " was essentially 
his own, and was effected by an examination of the 
Bible to determine whether it did really " teach that 
Jesus Christ died to reconcile an unchangeable God 
to His own children." It would be interesting to know 
whether he was led by the reading of Hume to take 
ground in the " Treatise " against the doctrine of the 
freedom of the will, or whether this attitude is to be 
charged to his Calvinistic education. It is probable, 
however, that in the case of a man of his originality, 
little influence should be accorded in the formation 
of his opinions either to books or to his education. 
In his solution of the problems of sin and of salvation 
he reached and rested in the doctrine of the Divine 
Sovereignty. He was a determinist, and believed that 
the absolute rule of a good God must necessarily result 
in the salvation of all men. It would manifestly be 
inappropriate, in view of what has already been said, 
to judge the " Treatise " solely or chiefly according to 
a literary standard. Its merit lies not in its literary 
excellence, but in its clearness, simplicity, force, and 
adaptedness to convince the ordinary mind. It would 
be very unjust to say that it is a great theological 
classic, and to compare it with the nearly contempora- 
neous " Discourses on Religion " by Schleiermacher. 
Ballou did not address, and could not successfully 
have addressed, such readers as this great scholar 



7o 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERS ALISTS. 



and writer had before him. If, however, we judge 
Ballou's book with reference to its writer's aim, and 
in view of the success which it achieved, we must 
pronounce it a great work. It assumes larger pro- 
portions, and commands greater admiration, when we 
take into account, the authors antecedents and the 
circumstances under which he wrote. 

On Dec. 15, 1817, occurred the important event 
the seventy-fifth anniversary of which this church 
now fittingly celebrates. Hosea Ballou was installed 
as pastor of the School-Street Church. The place 
was prepared for the man, and the man was pre- 
eminently fitted for the place. This was a great 
opportunity for him, and a greater opportunity for 
Universalism in New England and in the United 
States. From this vantage-ground the eloquent ad- 
vocate of the new doctrines of the Atonement, the 
Unity of God, and Universal Salvation, swayed the 
present and the future. When he entered upon this 
work he was in the prime of life, and near to the 
zenith of his influence. The next quarter of a cen- 
tury constitutes a most important epoch in the history 
of Universalism. It was a controversial epoch; for the 
leader who stood in the School-Street pulpit was pre- 
eminently a controversialist. His eloquence, boldness, 
and fervor, and the novelty of his message and method 
gave him a wide reputation, and attracted multitudes 
to hear him. One may judge of the power of his per- 
sonality, and of the eagerness of the people to hear 
his word, when one considers that he spoke three 
times each Sunday to audiences filling the church 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



71 



even to the crowding of the aisles. Before he came 
to Boston the doctrines which he represented had not 
been widely heard, and had exerted little influence 
upon contemporary thought ; so that from the year 
1 8 1 7 dates the real rise of Universalism in New Eng- 
land. It was not alone the personality of Mr. Ballou 
that contributed to this result ; it was also his prodi- 
gious energy and tireless activity. He was more than 
a metropolitan preacher; he was a pamphleteer, editor, 
and missionary. "The Magazine" spread his mes- 
sage far and wide, and he responded personally to 
calls into near and remote parts of the country ; so 
that altogether he performed the ordinary work of 
two men, — of two extraordinary men. 

No estimate of Hosea Ballou's work can be com- 
plete that does not take into account the fact that 
one phase of his apprehension of Universalism has 
not prevailed in the church of which he may be re- 
garded as the veritable founder. Early in life he 
appears to have held the doctrine known as that of 
"future discipline." That he abandoned this at a 
later period, there is no doubt. Although the strange 
manner in which he entered upon a discussion of this 
question with Mr. Turner — allowing him to choose 
which side he would defend — may be construed as 
implying an indifference on his part, the fact that he 
wrote a volume of three hundred pages in defence of 
it in 1834, evidently shows that he regarded the sub- 
ject as one of great importance. His matured opinion 
appears to have been that sin is punished when and 
where it is committed ; and as he did not believe that 



72 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 



men would sin in the life to come, he did not think 
that they would suffer punishment in that state of 
existence. There is no doubt that in the heat of 
controversy his opinions were greatly misrepresented, 
perhaps were grossly caricatured. It should be re- 
marked that when Dr. Charming interpreted his doc- 
trine as implying that " moral evil is to be buried in 
the grave," he replied that this had the appearance of 
" a canting throw " at what this divine was not dis- 
posed " to treat with his usual candor ; " and that 
when Channing charged that this teaching " ascribed 
to death the power of changing and purifying the 
mind," he answered that " he certainly never heard 
any of us state such views, nor had he ever read any 
such statement in any of our writings." Perhaps in 
his interpretation of some words of Paul he gave to 
" the flesh " a more exclusively physical sense than the 
apostle intended to convey in its employment. It is 
probable, too, that psychological considerations, which 
Mr. Ballou did not sufficiently take into account, have 
considerably contributed to the decadence of his doc- 
trine, and to the prevalence of the opinion that men 
enter upon the life to come in substantially the moral 
and spiritual condition in which they leave this. The 
greater prominence given in later times among us to 
man's own agency in salvation, and to the doctrine of 
human freedom, has also been largely instrumental in 
effecting this result. The liberal and tolerant, the 
genial and kindly, spirit manifested by Mr. Ballou in 
the discussion of this question cannot be too highly 
commended ; and the following words of his, in the pre- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



73 



face to the book referred to, deserve to be no less com- 
memorated and heeded now than half a century ago : 

" It is a happy circumstance that in the denomination of 
Universalists no one feels bound to defend and support the 
particular opinions of another any further than he is himself 
convinced of their truth and importance. Our platform of 
faith is general, and allows individuals an extensive latitude 
to think freely, to investigate minutely, and to adopt what 
particular views best comport with the honest convictions of 
the mind, and fearlessly to avow and defend the same." 

The judgment of this generation will probably agree 
with that of his own in finding Hosea Ballou's chief 
eminence and distinction in his powers as a preacher. 
If in argument he was strong, in intuition clear, in 
wit quick, in repartee never at a loss, and with the 
pen lucid and convincing, — in the pulpit he was mas- 
terly, luminous, and great. He was born to oratory. 
Here he was in his element; and no one who heard 
him could escape the spell of his genius, or resist the 
torrent of his thought and passion. An intelligent 
hearer of his has said : " Never have I seen a man 
who could hold his hearers so perfectly under his 
control ; they were entirely at his command. He 
clothed them in smiles and melted them to tears ; 
and these things he seemed to do at pleasure." Per- 
haps the secret of this magnetic power lay in his 
transparent sincerity, his childlike simplicity, his 
quenchless fervor, his artless earnestness, and his pro- 
found conviction of the truth and importance of his 
message. These are the indispensable qualities of 
true oratory. Without them learning, culture, and 
art cannot furnish " the golden mouth." 



74 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



A theme must, however, be provided for the man, 
and conspire with him to produce the orator. The 
orator is not full born until his theme has touched 
and quickened him. Demosthenes, Patrick Henry, 
and Phillips could not have become what they were 
without the inspiration of liberty. For Ballou there 
was also provided a great theme, and it represented 
an aspect of the old, eternal struggle for liberty. It 
was the deliverance of the human mind from the 
dominion of a harsh, gloomy, and terrible theology. 
No greater and more inspiring themes were ever pro- 
vided for an orator than those which came to the soul 
of the young Ballou in his meditations among the 
vales and hills of his early home, — the themes of the 
Divine Fatherhood and Love, of the emancipation of 
the human mind from the bondage of fear and de- 
spair, and of the salvation of a world from sin. In 
these lay the thought which inspired Jesus in Galilee 
when he discoursed of the Father in heaven, who " is 
kind to the unthankful and the evil," — the thought 
which solves the awful problem of human pain and 
anguish and sin, sends a light into the sombre depths 
w 7 here fallen souls grope and writhe and sigh, and sets 
the star of hope over every cradle and every grave. 
When this thought came to this man, his susceptible 
nature took fire and burned to a white heat of glow- 
ing faith, quenchless zeal, and impassioned speech. 
His soul on fire with it flamed up in a great light, 
which flashed upon the surrounding theologic dark- 
ness, and kindled, and has continued to kindle, other 
souls, until the whole land is touched w 7 ith the con- 
tagious illumination. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



75 



This specialty, in which his greatest eminence was 
attained, indicates the limitation of Ballou's influence. 
It is given to few men to be great in more than one 
department of human activity. Our colleges confer, 
indeed, the degree of Master of Arts, but he is a very 
rare man who is master of one art. Hosea Ballou's 
mission was to the common people ; and this mission 
he accomplished with all the sureness, skill, and mas- 
tery of an artist. To them he was teacher, leader, 
inspirer, and prophet. His appeal to the common 
understanding and sentiment met with such a re- 
sponse as it is given to few men to receive. He was 
a man of the people, a spiritual Agamemnon, " king 
of men." Of attractive presence, of great sympathy 
and geniality, of magnetic eloquence, the people heard 
him gladly, hung on his words with rapture, and came 
away from his ministry with shining faces. With a 
master's hand he struck the chords of the common 
human feeling, and awoke the harmonies of hope and 
love. It was inevitable that the exigencies of con- 
troversy hemmed his thought and energies within a 
somewhat narrow channel. Had fortune placed him 
in an age of peace and construction instead of in the 
storm and stress of defence and a pioneer's mission, 
and had he enjoyed the advantages of a comprehen- 
sive culture and of the leisure for wide meditation, 
he might have delivered a great message to a larger 
circle of thinkers ; but it is doubtful whether he could 
have served any better the cause which he espoused. 
This cause needed the torrent that he was. Minds 
of a different type compose its broader stream. If 



j6 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 

some of his interpretations of Scripture were not such 
as a scientific exegesis can now approve, they were 
effective in his time against opponents whom he must 
meet, if he would contend successfully with them, 
upon a common ground. It would be manifestly 
unjust to him to compare him with Lessing, with 
Schleiermacher, or with Channing, — to say that he 
was a great literary artist, a learned and many-sided 
theologian, or a spiritual philosopher who could com- 
mand the attention of thinkers throughout Christen- 
dom. We must judge him by the actual results which 
he achieved. That these were great in themselves, 
no fair man will deny ; that they were admirable, in 
view of the disadvantages and obstacles against which 
he contended, must be conceded. As a prophet of 
the Divine Sovereignty, Fatherhood, and Love, he was 
an eloquent advocate against whom it was hazardous 
to contend. A fearless combatant, he attacked Cal- 
vinism in its stronghold, and smote it with blows from 
which it has never recovered. A zealous champion, 
he established and defended his cause by a masterly 
advocacy, by unremitting toils, and by journeys long 
and wearisome. Large-hearted, fair, and genial, he 
won the love of friends, and commanded the respect 
of foes. A great and spotless soul, he well deserves 
the meed of reverence and of honor from us of this 
generation, who have entered into his labors. Well 
shall we do and deserve if we perform the work al- 
lotted to us with the zeal and consecration, with the 
courage and sincerity, and with the geniality and tol- 
eration which distinguished Hosea Ballou. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



77 



POSITION AND INFLUENCE OF THE CHURCH 
FOR SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS. 

By PRESIDENT ISAAC M. ATWOOD, D. D. 

Estimating by human measures, seventy-five years 
is a long time. It takes in the greater part of our 
own century and of our own national life. A church 
which has lived through that period can scarcely have 
escaped a share in the continuous drama of three 
generations. Beginning when James Munroe was in 
the chair, it has seen twenty-four of our twenty-eight 
chief-magistrates inaugurated. When this church was 
founded, Boston was a town of forty thousand popula- 
tion. The railroad and the telegraph were unknown. 
The great antislavery agitation had not begun. Cal- 
vinism of an unmodified and aggressive type was 
preached throughout New England. The great Bap- 
tist and Methodist and Presbyterian bodies were small 
sects. Orthodoxy, as the Congregational denomina- 
tion was then known, had just received what some 
prophesied would prove its death blow in the Unita- 
rian schism. The country was yet poor. Four hun- 
dred dollars was a large salary outside the cities, and 
only a few favored ministers were paid one thousand 
dollars. Speaking relatively, it was the day of small 
things. 

In the interval we have had two wars, have abol- 
ished African slavery, have grown from eight to sixty- 



78 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



five millions of people, have witnessed the miracles of 
steam and of electricity, have risen from a fifth-rate 
to a first-rate power, have made for ourselves a respect- 
able literature, and have wrought our full share in 
the marvellous creation of modern science. We have 
seen the earth, which seventy-five years ago was so 
large, become small, while the universe has widened 
by distances then inconceivable ; and we have watched 
Calvinism bleach to a shade not everywhere distin- 
guishable from Universalism. 

In all these striking events and extraordinary 
changes this church has had some worthy share. Its 
two great pastors, Ballou and Miner, carried a light 
that could not be hid. They have been men who 
had a disturbing message to deliver ; they have led 
an attack. Their official position and personal inten- 
tion coincided in a revolutionary work ; they were a 
menace to the established theological order. The 
world could not continue to be the same world with 
them in it. And the colleague pastors — Soule, 
Chapin, Connor, Cushman, Roblin — have been will- 
ing partners in the overturning work of this pulpit. 

But besides and beyond any record made for the 
church by its pastors, the men and women of this 
church have wrought their own work and achieved 
their own place. I have known many of them, to 
honor and love. The faces of some, absent to sight, 
are present and luminous to-night to faithful memory. 
Among them have been the fairest types of Christian 
manhood and womanhood I have ever known ; and 
taken together through this long period, they have 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



79 



constituted a vital body of believers, sturdy in their 
steadfastness, invincible in their loyalty, sound and 
strong in character, and of great public usefulness. 

A modern Christian church has a double function. 

i. It is an incorporate Christianity; its office is to 
bring the thought and life of Jesus Christ into help- 
ful relations with human society. What it does, 
superficially viewed, is to provide a place of meeting, 
an order of worship, a minister, a literature, instruc- 
tion, avenues for social and charitable activity ; in 
short, an equipment for realizing religion in the 
world. If that is all a church does, we may under- 
stand why so many of them are like the church in 
Sardis, which had a name to live, but was dead. 
What a true church does, to more penetrating view, 
is to supply life to these parts, and so organize them 
into a living force. Many figures have been chosen 
as the symbol of the Church. None of them are per- 
fectly apposite ; but that of Jesus himself is most 
exact and suggestive. He is the vine, the life-foun- 
tain; the churches are branches, supporting their life 
from that which would have no use without them, and 
without which they would not be alive. So that the 
organism is seen to be necessary to the expression of 
the life ; but much more the life is essential to the 
organism, for without the life the organism would be 
both dead and meaningless. The kingdom of Christ 
is made a reality in human society not by life and 
thought alone, diffusive and unorganized ; still less 
by temples, by orders of service, by a preacher, and 
by a complement of semi-religious and semi-social 



8o SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



guilds, but by an organism which the spirit of Christ 
has created for its expression, and which it pervades 
with its abundant vitality. This may be described as 
the general function of a Christian church, in which 
it is at one with all other Christian churches. 

2. Another function which a church may fulfil, 
and which most modern churches do fulfil, is to 
embody and represent an idea ; this is what makes 
denominations. A church takes up an idea, believed 
by its members to be of first importance, but not so 
esteemed by the members of other churches; perhaps 
it is rejected and reviled by them. It emblazons this 
idea upon its standards, flings it in the face of the 
world, and becomes henceforth its champion and ex- 
ponent. It may be a little idea, like that of the Ana- 
baptists, or a large idea, like that of the Waldenses. 
But if the church which espouses it proves faithful 
to the idea, either it will be tested and approved, or 
tested and rejected. In the one case a contribution is 
made to the Christian forces; in the other, a source of 
illusion and weakness is at length eliminated. 

This is the process of progress. Not by aimless 
evolution, but by choice of ideas and a resolute fight 
for them, is the world moved up and on. From much 
that one hears he would infer that progress comes, 
not from the choice of ideas and the use made of 
them, but from an impersonal and airy conflict among 
themselves. Truth is represented as clutching error; 
reason rushes in and tears the mask from superstition ; 
science turns the light on faith ; and freedom leaves 
the field with the scalps of all the tyrannies. It is 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



81 



pretty and poetic, but it is not fact. Nor is it much 
nearer the fact to suppose that light and knowledge 
are somehow disseminated, schools result, more light 
is shed abroad, men think, then they lay aside error, 
and the millennium dawns. The diffusion of educa- 
tion means the choice of certain ideas as against 
certain other ideas. And the effect of this diffusion 
is to lead some men to discern and proclaim other 
ideas, — to make a stand for them, and so bring them 
into comparison and competition. Whether that go 
on peacefully in the forum, the laboratory, the library, 
or by the use of arms on the field, it is a conflict. 
And all progress in our world involves conflict. For 
progress takes place when some man or organization 
seizes on new and higher ground, and maintains its 
position until other men and organizations come up 
to the same level ; or it takes place when the ground 
thus seized is proved to be not higher nor truer, but 
possibly lower and more fallacious, and so at length 
is abandoned, not alone by those who occupy it, but 
by the onlooking world. 

In 1833 began the Oxford movement in the Church 
of England. A few men, among whom Newman and 
Pusey and Keble were leaders, saw, or thought they 
saw\ light. Their common impulse was to renew the 
religious life of their church. Their thought was that 
this would be effected, not by a reformation towards 
Protestantism, but by a reformation towards Catholi- 
cism. In their argument, they took up the position 
that the Church of England had never ceased to be 

an integral part of the one catholic and apostolic 

6 



82 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



Church, and was still in fellowship with Rome and 
with Constantinople. Otherwise, they contended, it 
was not a true church at all, having no apostolic min- 
istry nor grace of sacraments. 

Here was an idea, taken up by a group of learned, 
able, and pious men, set forth with extraordinary inge- 
nuity and eloquence, and when it was attacked, as it 
soon was, defended with a skill and a calmness of 
spirit of which there are too few parallels in the his- 
tory of the Christian Church. So far as the historical 
facts and the arguments based on them were con- 
cerned, the movement was a failure. Newman early 
saw this, as did Manning a little later; and both fol- 
lowed their logic into Rome. Competent scholars 
of all schools now pronounce against the contention 
of the Tractarians ; and only the most incorrigible of 
themselves hold fast to it. The point in illustration 
is that, while the idea is not given up, but under the 
broader aegis of High Churchism is marching on in 
England and in America, the historical and logical 
grounds of it are exploded. Some time we shall know 
the fate of the idea itself. At present it wins its way, 
apparently either because it accords well with the 
caprice of religious fashion, or because it meets a real 
religious need of modern Anglo-American society, 
and so vindicates a measure of truth at its heart. It 
certainly does not make head by force of any intel- 
lectual or moral appeal, but palpably against them. 
But it makes headway. We must discriminate, how- 
ever, between the edicts of fashion and the verdicts of 
history. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



83 



The idea with which the Universalist Church is 
identified is that of the natural sovereignty of truth 
and righteousness and love. The supremacy belongs 
to them. We interpret the prophecy we discern in 
the eternal nature of things, in the evolution of 
human history, and particularly in the person and 
mission of Jesus Christ, to mean Universalism, — 

" that good shall fall 
At last — far off — at last, to all, 
And every winter change to spring." 

If any church in our sisterhood of churches can 
claim to have been from the first more intimately con- 
cerned in the fortune of the Universalist idea than 
any other, all would agree that this is the church. 
The prominence of its first pastor in the Universalist 
movement, the long period during which he was the 
centre of denominational interest, and the ability and 
loyalty with which the traditions of Father Ballou's 
ministry have been sustained in the pulpit and in the 
pews, easily confer on this church the historic pre- 
eminence, and weight it with the responsibilities of 
leadership. 

That it has not fulfilled ideally its mission is to say 
only that it is a human institution. To convict it of 
blunders and shortcomings we need nothing more than 
the spontaneous testimony of its pastors and member- 
ship. To report that it has sometimes failed to meet 
the expectations of critical brethren who looked on 
from afar, is but to recite history. This is not an 
hour for the caviller ; and if it were, I am not the 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS A LISTS. 



man. I am too full of thankfulness and of the senti- 
ment of filial honor to stand here and dissect a record 
which on the whole and for so long a period reflects 
credit on the Universalist name, vindicates nobly the 
Universalist experiment, and embodies effectively the 
Universalist spirit. I remember with gratitude to- 
night that this church has never lowered the flae, 
never stained the white of its banner, nor changed the 
color of its blue and its gold. It has been a Univer- 
salist church throughout. The solidity of its princi- 
ples, the sanity of its administration, the serenity of its 
spirit, through all the tempests and the turnings of this 
three-quarters of a century, challenge my admiration. 
It has been a wise church. It has been content with 
the best. So many churches would trade off Saint 
Paul for Simon Magus it is a mighty comfort to have 
the example of this church standing out through the 
years as that of a people who, when the Lord gave them 
a prince, knew enough to let him reign. If I had not 
known you, my brethren, and had reasons for honor- 
ing you on account of what you are in yourselves, I 
should be able on sound principles of inductive rea- 
soning to believe you to rank among the sanest and 
safest people in the world, because you have kept on 
the bridge-deck of this flag-ship through forty-four 
stormy years our great admiral. 

If it were required to enumerate some objective 
fruits of this long occupancy, I will not disguise that 
the list is shorter than I could wish. It would be 
especially gratifying in such an anniversary to count 
up the children of the parent church, the missions fos- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



85 



tered, the colonies sent forth, the ministers educated, 
the organic offshoots that, while maintaining new and 
independent life, feel in root and stock the influence 
that centres here. If we may not indulge our pride of 
progeny to any large extent, we can recall how for a 
generation and more the energies of this church were 
directed to the founding and endowing of colleges and 
schools and the instituting of publication interests. 
Here originated many of the most vigorous educa- 
tional and literary plants we have, and here were the 
fountains whence steady streams of irrigation flowed 
to them through long seasons of desert weather. I 
suspect no record has been kept, except in the books 
of the sleepless angel who misses no good deed of 
mortals, of the countless emissaries of schools and 
churches and missions, and denominational projects 
of various shades of merit, who have had a welcome in 
this church and have borne away the offerings of this 
long-suffering people. No one church can do every- 
thing. Let us be just. And when we are we shall 
mete out to the old School-Street and the new Colum- 
bus-Avenue Church a large award of merit for the 
steadiness and liberality with which it has opened its 
hand and spoken its blessing to the manifold enter- 
prises of a developing denomination. 

It remains to say that the labor of this church has 
not been in vain in the Lord. The contention which 
it took up was not idle. The idea that God will have 
all men to be saved is not a transient opinion, having 
its run with other novelties and then becoming as 
obsolete as witchcraft. It has proved itself to be vital 



86 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERS ALISTS. 



and perennial. What this church enlisted for as a 
forlorn hope is the pet heresy of the age. It has been 
shut out of every conventicle and warned off the prem- 
ises of every school of orthodoxy. But it comes in 
everywhere like intrusive daylight and is as heedless 
of anathema as a rising sun. Why, the idea for which 
this church made a stand seventy-five years ago, amid 
manifold reviling, has made more headway, in the 
churches and outside them, than any other sentiment 
or system which within the same period has appealed 
to the human soul. First it conquered the Christian 
reason ; then it won the Christian heart ; and now it 
is carrying the citadel of the Christian conscience. 
Do you say it is now a different doctrine from what it 
was then ? Well, different as a bird is different from 
a fledgling. It is with ideas as with eagles. When 
first hatched you may notice that parts of the old shell 
adhere to them, and they are awkward and weak. But 
an eagle is always and only an eagle. It never de- 
velops into a turtle or a giraffe. Our idea has worked 
itself clear of the shell and has waxed strong and lithe. 
But its nature remains unchanged. It is still the 
thought that God is good, and his purpose good, and 
his plan good, and the outcome good. To have stood 
up for that idea when it was lonely and unpopular, 
and to have kept steadfast to it through the long 
storm of opposition and obloquy that poured on its 
devoted head, and to have held up loyally the hands 
of its great defenders until the storm passed and days 
of peace and skies of calm were granted, and the awful 
roar of hate had changed into a psalm of praise, is 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



87 



glory enough for any church, as it is a fortune reserved 
for few. 

Time, that either vindicates or condemns us all, has 
nobly vindicated the choice of this church. It might 
have had more ease, a smoother sail, fanned by the 
soothing zephyrs of fashion, and come earlier into 
port, had it chosen the way of man rather than the 
command of God. But it could not have the unspeak- 
able satisfaction and triumph of this hour nor the full 
glory which a later and juster era will surely aw r ard to 
those who threw themselves into this great conflict at 
every cost and held on till victory came, except by 
choosing as it chose. I am here to say, Well done, 
good and faithful servant ! Thou didst enter into 
partnership with God, and Truth, and Right, in a day 
when it cost a great price. Thou hast thy exceeding 
great reward. In thy company are all they who have 
chosen rather to suffer reproach for a precious cause 
than to enjoy the pleasure of compliance for a season. 
If thy children are as wise to choose as were their 
fathers, and as faithful to execute, and as patient to 
wait, thy star shall hasten up the sky, and the glory 
of the present be but a spark to the glory that 
awaits. 



88 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE CHURCH TO-DAY. 
By Prof. CHARLES H. LEONARD, D. D. 

The place and the work of this church are deter- 
mined in part, in good degree, it may be, by its his- 
tory. And yet in a very important sense they are 
new, — as new as the place and work of the most 
recently planted Christian society in the city; for a 
living church adjusts itself to the changing demands 
of the times, and does not yield to the imperative that 
history must repeat itself, simply because it happens 
sometimes so to do. 

Of course, after three fourths of a century, it would 
be strange if there were not here a certain reserve of 
intellectual and moral force, a great momentum, too, 
the growing bequest of the years, which is unmis- 
takable in its emphasis on religious ideas and 
methods, and, above all, perhaps, an atmosphere, 
a climate in the life of the parish, which has grown 
more and more productive as the years have gone 
on. It is well to see, however, that these things do 
not impose a rigid intelligence, nor an unchanging 
method, nor hold the church to a predestined end. 
Basis, vigor in compact life, the splendor of acquired 
facilities, personal power, are here, but not inflexibility, 
nor what is loosely dignified as a law of repetition, as 
if the world in which we now live were the same world 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



8 9 



which our fathers knew, and not a world the like of 
which was never known before. 

These are the facts of which we must make account, 
and take counsel, if we would arrive at any safe con- 
clusions concerning the work and opportunity of this 
parish, namely, its endowment in ideas and character, 
and the changed condition of things in modern social 
and industrial life, by which we have brought together, 
face to face, a more or less definite product, in the 
equipped life of a Christian church, and the more 
flexible problems, not to say perils, of this part of 
the nineteenth century; and with these facts in view, 
I shall try to answer the question as to the work and 
the opportunity of this particular Christian society. 

Looked at from some points, and in view of some 
facts, it seems as if this church had nothing to do but 
to keep on in the work with which it started, and by 
which its career has been made illustrious ; and so 
perhaps the immediate thought in this connection is 
that this pulpit is pledged to distinctive ideas, certain 
constructive principles, from which it cannot depart 
without violence to the ethics of history and the logic 
of character. 

I will refer to a few of these principles, as the best 
way which occurs to me of showing what is the actual 
opportunity of this church as a part of the great teach- 
ing force of the time and place. And first, this church 
has made free and confident use of the idea of de- 
velopment, as displayed in an orderly method in 
creation and redemption. The great preacher who 
stood in this pulpit in the early years saw nothing 



go 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 



more clearly than that things in creation, and in the 
moral life of the world, and in things spiritual and 
religious are continuous, opening more and more 
towards one consistent whole. This is part of our 
inheritance and birthright ; and what we of to-day 
have to do, it seems to me, is to invest the thought, 
the idea, the principle, with sanction, new power, and 
help men to see that they may bring to its test their 
most sacred beliefs with respect to God, and man, and 
destiny, and the reality and permanence of all divine 
things. And I can conceive of no safer, no more 
effective way of meeting the ignorance of violent at- 
tack upon Christianity, or of showing the futility of 
all attempts to reconcile things that can only be com- 
pared and contrasted, than to call men to a calmer, a 
more catholic, a more judicial discussion of this ques- 
tion of theistic development, of theistic evolution. 
Nor am I so sure but a part of a Christian scholars 
work in the pulpit of to-day may be the cultivation of 
a more hospitable temper towards doubt; for much 
that goes by that name, and expresses itself in de- 
structive criticism, may leave us richer than it found 
us ; just as men are said to have enriched wide districts 
of land and prepared it for finer and ampler growths, 
by their very eager efforts after a hidden treasure 
which they never found. 

Another principle which forms a part of this soci- 
ety's inheritance is that human life is a process of 
education, and not a state of mere probation. Hosea 
Ballou's sermons would be wonderfully instructive and 
interesting reading if turned to in the light of to-day, 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



91 



especially in their study and argument concerning 
humanity and its relation to God. His favorite anal- 
ogy, as we know, was that of the family; and it is no 
wonder that men were moved to the delight of tears 
when they heard that God educates his children as a 
eood father in the home on earth trains his child for 
use and responsibility. Did ever preacher deal with 
things vital and things incidental in a more discrim- 
inating, convincing, because common-sense way than 
this prophet of a New Evangel, who came teaching 
that man's soul must turn to the reconciling Love as 
some lesser orb of the same substance turns to some 
central attraction ? The form which the thought took 
on belonged to the prevalent philosophy, and would 
not have been intelligible in any other phrase ; but 
the thought itself has its ethical content, and points 
to a product in moral and spiritual life which implies 
an ethical process. And it seems but just to say that 
this is precisely what this pulpit in these more recent 
years has illustrated ; for, how far short soever it may 
have come in other things, its stalwart advocacy of a 
humane theology, or a theology in the form of ethics, 
has been as pre-eminent as it has been constant and 
effective. And this very procession in the history of 
this educational idea, and this very progress in the 
method of dealing with it, hints the inevitable oppor- 
tunity in this regard for our day and for the awakened 
mind of the present age. In larger meaning than the 
phrase has been made to say, we want the old truth in 
new lights. The thought of providential education — 
with strong stress upon the word " providential " — is 



92 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



fundamental in the Christian scheme. God is in his- 
tory. That is the premise and text of the modern 
Christian preacher in the face of a materialistic phi- 
losophy, whether of the physical or idealistic type ; 
and so why may it not be a good part of his chief 
business to show men that they have something to do 
with this universe beyond its arithmetic and its statis- 
tics, and that it is not the most comfortable result to 
gain the whole world to our positive theories and lose 
one's own soul ? To me it seems a great opportunity 
to speak to thinking, feeling, dying men and women 
of moral worth, spiritual power, religious life, as a 
somewhat involved in a Divine purpose and a divinely 
progressive method ; and it seems to me no mean 
prerogative to help religion get rid of the multiplica- 
tion-table and mechanics and a mere commandment, 
and to invest it with moral significance, so that we 
shall see that it is no abstraction, nor what Martineau 
calls a charm against a bad lineage, nor a protection 
against God, nor a means of escape from a threatened 
calamity, but the greatest possible good to the human 
soul; and all this because man is taken into the great 
purposes of history as that history is controlled by a 
power which makes for righteousness, and informed 
by a love which forever works toward completeness. 
And so if I wanted to move this people to a work 
which might radiate into the darkest and foulest 
places of this city, I would urge it as a part of pres- 
ent opportunity to put the emphasis upon the thought 
that life is a process of education, a constant training 
for nobler and ampler things. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



93 



But a third principle, which all others suggest, and 
to which in their action at any rate all others tend, is 
the principle of unity in the spiritual life. Need I say 
that the emphasis is on the word "spiritual," and that 
I have in mind that which is basis and motive of 
all other unity, and that my thought goes on to a 
personal being in whom all things consist ? And 
therefore it seems to me that that is a most 
helpful philosophy of our day which takes in all 
the facts of matter as well as mind, and gets rid of 
dualism, not by exclusion of this or that, but by in- 
troducing God as the living, creative centre of all 
things. 

Now, I think it will be conceded that this truth 
is, in a very special sense, this society's inheritance. 
What have they to do with it in the use of opportu- 
nity here, in this year of grace, in this city, and as the 
representatives of a great cause ? I suspect that the 
answer which shapes itself in my own mind may 
sound as if I were taking account of imagined infer- 
ences and consequences, and so departing from the 
nobler methods of criticism which always evenly keep 
to the central fact or principle. I may venture to say, 
however, that while we are not likely here to have 
superficial, ignorant thrust at theology as a proper 
subject of study as basis for discourse, and in its real 
definition, as including the concrete facts of history 
and the problems of our social organism, the ground 
of our best service for the good of our fellows, — we 
may have from pulpit and pew the traditional phrases, 
if not the traditional ideas, about this spiritual unity 



94 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



as belonging to or to be realized in another world, — ■ 
one that is as really set in time and place as this world 
is. Why not conform to a better metaphysics of the 
faith, and contemplate spiritual unity through a per- 
fected humanity as a state quite independent of now 
and then, of here and there, and transfer its scene, not 
from this world to that, nor from that to this, but from 
all worlds external to the soul itself, and fix attention 
upon the truth that man's spirit does not get out of 
its own centre ; that it is eternally allied to God, 
and that all its processes in thought and feeling are 
indissolubly connected with the infinite thought and 
the perfect will ? So far, then, from having passed 
beyond our opportunity, or from having allowed our 
opportunity to pass beyond us, it fronts us to-day as 
never before ; and as never before the call of the most 
thoughtful life is, not only to take, but to make op- 
portunity in an aggressive scholarship and piety, to 
startle the eager hearing of the congregations into 
new thinking on new lines and in new terms about 
the old truth. It is not a new theology, nor a new 
principle of life that we want, but a new and more 
inspiring homiletics, — one that has such eagerness 
for souls that it will transcend the formalities of the 
books, and seize upon life and the things of life and 
history, and by means of them bring subjects to date, 
and give them the signature and the address of a 
living message. 

Is this, then, our opportunity, I hear you ask, just 
to take our inheritance in a threefold principle of 
providential order, of progressive education, of essen- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



95 



tial unity, and do our best to make it alive and con- 
structive ? I sincerely think so, even after trying to 
force my thoughts for this occasion into other chan- 
nels. If I have disappointed the intelligent longing 
that is in the heart of the present pastor of this church, 
or failed to respond to any quickened desire of man 
or woman in the pews to see this religious society in 
the forefront of benevolent activity in this city, I can 
only plead that as often as the vision of such activity 
rose up before me, I reverted to the grounds of it, and 
became absorbed with the truth that fires souls for 
Christian work, gives them motive for it and in it, 
binds them to sacrifice, makes them ready to take the 
vows of poverty, and of single obedience to Christ, 
and hold on in the way he took for the sake of the 
poor, the sinful, the sorrowing. 

I think I see what might result here from the ser- 
vice of a trained body of workers on secular lines 
even. I think I see what might be done by the 
establishment of neighborhood meetings. I appre- 
ciate the methods of the great English missions and 
guilds. I have made some study of the unique work 
done by the brotherhood of Saint John the Evan- 
gelist, by the Berkeley Street clergy and laity, by the 
Oxford House abroad and the Andover House at 
home, and I join you and others in sympathetic 
interest in the new venture of the near Shawm ut 
Congregational Church ; but we must see that these 
things, or most of them at any rate, would mean for 
us reorganization. And after all, the first step in 
social reform must be the conscious organization of 



96 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



the intelligent and moral life of the people. It is 
easy enough to have schemes ; it is not so easy to 
give them eyes and feet and hands. I do believe 
that a great deal can be done here through friendly 
bands, united to reach and work for young men ; 
through the establishment of guilds, sodalities, clubs, 
with the church as centre. One of the most useful 
agencies here would be a Girls' Friendly Society, to 
bind together in one ladies as associates and working- 
girls as members, for mutual help, both religious and 
secular, to encourage purity of life, dutifulness to pa- 
rents, faithfulness to employers, and thrift ; and if the 
psychology of my address is correct, or at all sug- 
gestive, some of these things will come in a natural 
order ; for my thought is that particular efforts to 
reform or build up life on these definite lines will 
result from the wiser and more comprehensive hope 
of men and women. 

In one of the great galleries of Spanish Seville 
hang three paintings which retell, each in its own 
way, the story of Christ feeding the five thousand. 
In one, the central idea is the charity of Jesus ; in 
another, the central thought is the hunger of the 
multitude ; in a third, the great master of art and 
interpreter of religion and life has so brought together 
the Lord of help and the need of men, that the action 
of the one answers to the action of the other, as 
power to result, and result to power. Here, to me, is 
dim sign and representation of both sides of our great 
opportunity, — the famishing life of the city at the 
very door of the church, and the church's own plenary 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



97 



power in a fortified intelligence and a reinforced faith ; 
so that, in regard to the fewest means at our command, 
the question is not, What are they among so many ? 
but How marvellously are they multiplied for the sus- 
tenance of the world ? 



7 



SOCIAL PARISH GATHERING. 



L.cfC. 



Aged 46 



SOCIAL PARISH GATHERING. 



T about the hour of seven the not easy task of 



seating the company began, and twenty minutes 
later Mr. H. D. Williams, master of ceremonies, 
called the company to order in a brief address, as 
follows : — 

In behalf of the Second Universalist Society I bid you cor- 
dial greeting. Welcome, one and all, to our festival. Old 
friends who in years past gave of your wisdom, your strength, 
and your resources; you who to-day fill the pews and hold 
up the hands of the pastors ; and ye young, who to-morrow 
may have responsible charge of affairs. A common love, a 
common faith, fills all hearts to-night. May our gathering be 
rich in pleasant and sacred memories, rich in vows of con- 
tinued fidelity to this old historic parish, and the beautiful 
faith it upholds. 

Rev. Dr. Miner, at the request of the president, 
offered prayer. 

The company were then urged to attend to the 
practical duties before them. 

During the banquet, music was furnished by an 
orchestra from Baldwin's Cadet Band. 

The scene in the lecture-room was a brilliant one. 
Eight long tables filled the entire space, and there 




102 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UN IVERSALISTS. 



were seated about them a company numbering three 
hundred and sixty ladies and gentlemen, present and 
former members of the society. 

It was a little after eight o'clock when the company 
were called to order by the president. He said : — 

Anniversaries like the present occur but seldom, and it is 
fitting that we recognize them when they come. Seventy- 
five years of organization, seventy-five years of church life, is 
a large contribution to man's advancement and to the world's 
history. It was a grand message the fathers of our church 
brought, and it has worked a mighty change in religious 
thought. In serious way our story was presented to the pub- 
lic on the 1 8th of December last. To-night as a family we 
gather around these tables in a social way, to recall the les- 
sons of that day and to gather strength and courage for the 
present. That our services may be conducted in proper form 
we have appointed Hon. A. A. Folsom, one of our Standing 
Committee, toast-master, and when he rises you will all give 
close attention to the sentiments he will present. It will 
be my privilege to call out the speakers to respond. 

Mr. Folsom announced the 

First Toast. Our First Pastor: the fearless advocate of 
God's love in an age when men believed in God's hate. He 
boldly challenged a narrow and cruel creed, and proclaimed a 
common brotherhood and a common destiny. 

In introducing the speaker, the president said : " Our 
parish history and the services of our first pastor were 
ably presented at our December meeting by Dr. Miner, 
and on the evening of the same day Dr. Cone gave us 
a scholarly analysis of his character and work. There 
is, however, one estimate not yet presented. We have 
with us in our church Hosea Ballous grandson. He 





CHURCH ON COLUMBUS AVENUE. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



103 



is familiar with family records and private papers, and 
from a loving mother gathered such knowledge of the 
grandfathers life and character as only a home can 
know. I have the pleasure to call upon B. B. Whit- 
temore, Esq." 



MR. WHITTEMORE'S ADDRESS. 

• 

Mr. Chairman and Friends : In responding to the toast, 
"The First Pastor of this Church," the brief time allotted to 
me will compel me to speak in graphic terms. I must there- 
fore present to your consideration Hosea Ballou as the great- 
est reformer that the Christian Church has known since the 
earliest times. 

The reformation of Martin Luther was a protest against 
abuses of power in the Romish Church, but the reformation 
inaugurated by Hosea Ballou was a complete emancipation 
from the pagan doctrines that had been held in the Christian 
Church down to his day. The doctrines of the fall of man 
and of vicarious atonement had been accepted by the Church 
from the earlier ages, and the Universalism of John Murray 
and Eihanan Winchester was only based on the universality 
of the atonement. It was generally conceded that the Scrip- 
tures taught these doctrines, and no one was found to ques- 
tion the fact until Hosea Ballou in his unbiased youth was 
moved to look clearly down into the Bible and to discover 
that the old doctrines, against which his heart and soul re- 
belled, were not taught in the Scriptures ; and it was reserved 
for him, in his famous " Treatise on Atonement," published 
in 1805, with a masterly hand to sweep away the errors of 
Scriptural interpretation and to present to the world that 
magnificent statement of Christian theology which is the 
foundation of the faith of the liberal church of to-day and 



104 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 

the goal towards which the evangelical church is laboriously 
and painfully struggling. 

For the defence of his new-found faith he was admirably 
equipped. A brilliant orator, a diligent student, a profound 
Biblical scholar, a rare logician, and a master of incisive 
rhetoric, he was a match for any foe who dared meet him, 
either in oral or written debate. It has been the habit of 
some of his critics in our day to lament the trifling slips in 
language to be found in some of his earlier writings, as likely 
to prevent his influence from reaching scholastic quarters. 
But I am happy to believe that the fears of our critics are 
quite groundless. Numerous university-bred gentlemen tried 
their hand in controversy with Mr. Ballou while he was yet 
a mere youth, and the celerity and surprise with which they 
dropped him indicated their appreciation of his powers. 
The manner in which he handled the best of them will be 
found exceedingly interesting to those who will read his 
life and writings. 

Mr. Ballou was a student of a rare quality, at all times 
deeply engrossed in the investigation of some important 
subject. His reading was varied, careful, patient, and always 
directed to a definite purpose, and it will be seen that he 
developed rhetorical powers that rendered his later writings 
models of beauty and conciseness. Thus prepared he spoke 
at all times without notes, never wandering from his subject, 
but, with happy illustration and winning demeanor, holding 
his audiences, old and young, in rapt attention. 

Such was the man who seventy-five years ago became the 
first pastor of the Second Society of Universalists of the 
town of Boston. Coming to this society at the age of forty- 
six years in the full plenitude of his powers, he brought with 
him a name and a fame that were known throughout New 
England, and as far as the theological and secular papers 
were distributed in this country. He was as deeply beloved 
by the converts to Universalism as he was profoundly hated 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



by the clergy of the old churches, who were already alarmed 
at the effects which his stalwart blows were producing on the 
foundations of their creeds. From the time of his coming to 
this society, until relieved of his pastoral cares by the aid of 
a colleague, he devoted himself with untiring energy to the 
prosecution of the great work to which he was called. His 
matchless eloquence and keen logic drew multitudes of hear- 
ers, who thrice on each recurring Sunday crowded the old 
School Street Church to its utmost capacity. As years 
passed, when enabled to leave his pulpit in Boston, he was 
welcomed in different parts of New England, New York, 
Pennsylvania, and the farther West, as the great apostle of 
God's universal grace. Crowds gathered to hear him wher- 
ever he spoke, and on more than one occasion in summer 
time, standing in the window of a church, he spoke to a 
larger audience on the outside, while addressing the people 
who filled the auditorium within. 

It may be interesting to hear my mother's (his daughter's) 
description of him at the time of his coming to this society. 
He was fully six feet in height and weighed about two hun- 
dred and twenty pounds. His eye was a clear blue, and his 
countenance beamed with health and good-humor. He was 
a born orator, devoid of all violent ranting, and holding his 
audience by the power of persuasive eloquence. His logic 
was clear, clean, and fascinating. He had a keen sense of 
humor, but his exercise of wit was characterized by courtesy 
and refinement. He was courageous and self-possessed, be- 
coming so by years of experience in defence of the cause 
which he espoused. 

It will not, then, be thought strange that this man should 
have built up this society and constituted it, literally, the 
standard-bearer of the Universalist Church. Nor will it be 
thought strange that his clear vision should have discovered 
the young man whom he believed, of all others, best fitted 
to receive his mantie and to carry on the great work inau- 



106 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 

gurated by him, and who, fulfilling the mission to which he 
was called, has continued the great leader of the church 
which his predecessor founded, the shepherd of a devoted 
people, the man whom all delight to honor, — the beloved 
senior pastor, whom we so gladly welcome here to-night. 

Second Toast. The Organizations of the Universalist Church, — 
Local, State, National : they embody and express the genius of 
our religion, and invite to united action and systematic Christian 
work. 

" We are honored to-night," said the president, 
"with the presence ot the president of our general 
convention, who all his life long has worked for the 
improvement of methods of church work. I have 
the pleasure to call upon Hon. H. B. Metcalf, of 
Pawtucket, to respond." 

The gentleman then spoke substantially as follows : 

HON. H. B. METCALF'S ADDRESS. 

The sentiment to which you have asked me to respond 
is one for which I should like to have a different audience. 
The audience that I should like would be that class of people 
who are always wanting most from the organization and pour- 
ing least into it. They are the hardest people to suit on the 
face of the earth. 

Now this parish here — the old " School-Street " parish 
— is not the parish for me to talk to on that line. It does 
not need my injunction to be faithful to the organizations of 
the Universalist Church. If I should say that to some people 
they would say, " Oh, Columbus-Avenue Church is rich ! " 
But I knew something of the church when it was not rich, 
and I am well informed in relation to all those things ; but in 
spite of the fact that Dr. Miner sits here, I do not mind say- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 107 



ing to you — you need not tell him if you do not want to — 
that his influence had more to do towards developing the 
spirit of organization than any other of his associates. I 
always remember hearing him, when some application was 
made for aid, talking with his brother clergymen about it. 
He said, " I think we ought to help that. I think my parish 
will assist." " Yes," said one, " you can do it." " Yes, 
that 's exactly it ; and I mean that they shall be in the habit 
of doing." And this habit they always had. 

I know, as I said before, something about what has gone 
out from the " Old School Street" Church and the Columbus 
Avenue Church; and if I refer to anything which has been 
done by members of this parish, I do not count myself in. 

That excellent institution, the Universalist Sabbath School 
Union, was conceived by one who has been one of the most 
valued and active members of the church, — an organiza- 
tion that in later days was very effective in strengthening 
the denomination, in strengthening and leading to other 
organizations. 

I cannot tell you positively, because I do not know, who 
made the first movement in behalf of Tufts College. I have 
the impression that it was a member of the School Street 
Society; but whether so or not, Tufts College did not move 
but a very short distance until School Street Church took 
hold and put in some of the largest contributions that ever 
went in. So much for School Street Church and Tufts 
College ! That is an admirable institution known as " The 
Goddard Seminary." I know who has been the bountiful 
benefactor of that interest, — one of the grandest men we 
have ever known in Christian work, Thomas A. Goddard. 

There is another institution, " Dean Academy," founded 
and established by a member of the old School Street Uni- 
versalist Society, Dr. Oliver Dean. It founded the Pub- 
lishing House. I hope you know all about it; go there 
often, and buy lots of books that they have for sale. If you 



IOS SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 

do not, you make a great mistake. This society furnished 
the men who started and raised and backed the money to 
build up that Publishing House. I do not live here now, 
and am not a member of the society now. If I was, perhaps 
you might think I was boasting a little; but since I have left, 
I can talk plainly about the things of the past. 

Let us go on a little further. The first organization that 
we had in the Universalist Church, outside of the churches 
themselves, that could be called an ecclesiastical organization, 
was the " Massachusetts Universalist Convention." It had its 
beginning in the old School Street Church. Some of the 
people are here from that body. You do not realize what 
this advantage of organization is. You do not realize how 
our fathers distrusted organization. They had seen organi- 
zations interfere with the liberty of the people, and they had 
got prejudiced very much against organization, and we had 
quite a little fight in establishing the Massachusetts Univer- 
salist Convention; but the School Street Church favored the 
project, though some of the people who opposed it thought 
that they would be sorry for what they had done. The 
States all about have copied after our convention, however. 
It was the forerunner of the ecclesiastical organization of 
the denomination. The General Convention of Universalists 
came into existence about 1870. The same people were 
there; the same people were taking the leading part; the 
same people are largely entitled to the credit. I do not 
want to claim all the credit of the convention ; but you know 
that the Massachusetts Convention was the stepping-stone to 
that larger organization. 

Now, have I not given you reasons enough why I should 
not talk to you, why I should not talk to this parish, about 
loyalty to church interests? I wish simply to congratulate 
you that you have done so well. I wish to say to the young 
people that I hope you will be true to what they have been 
doing; and I hope you will make it as great a success as 
your fathers have done. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 109 



Third Toast. Our Sister Churches : moved by a common faith 
and a common love, may all be united in one great fellowship of 
service. 

Rev. Charles R. Tenney, pastor of the Grove Hall 
Church, Roxbury, was called upon to respond He 
spoke as follows : — - 

REV. MR. TENNEY'S ADDRESS. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen: I am not 
quite able to see why I should have been selected to respond 
to this sentiment; for, as I look into the faces of the congre- 
gation at Grove Hall, I see a great many who have come out 
from School Street Church ; and it appears that the Grove 
Hall Society and Church is not so much a "sister" as per- 
haps a daughter of this society. I look again into the faces 
of the congregation gathered there, and I see a great many 
who are a generation removed from the School Street Soci- 
ety, whose parents were here ; and then it occurs to me that 
perhaps our relationship is that of a granddaughter to the 
old School Street Society; and yet I am to-night to speak 
to the sentiment, " The Sister Churches." I wonder what is 
meant by that expression, by the way ! Is it meant to take 
in merely the Universalist churches? If so, the prayer for 
their unity is one in which I think we might all very well 
join, and to which every one here would be ready to respond, 
"Amen! " 

However, it occurs to me to say to you, that if we were 
moved by a common faith, there would be no question but 
we should live in fellowship one with another. We have a 
common faith. There are beliefs which we hold ; but are 
we moved by those beliefs as we should be? Do they take 
hold of us? On the other hand, are we not often shocked to 
find how unmoved we are in contemplation of those great 



HO SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



beliefs? It is a belief in the Fatherhood of God; a belief 
that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world; a belief in the 
immortality of the human soul ; a belief in the final victory 
of God over evil. If we were really moved by these beliefs 
as they are well fitted to move us, do you think there would 
be any question but we should live together in closest fellow- 
ship? any question but we should love one another sincerely, 
and be ready for any sacrifices that we might help one an- 
other? If we look in detail into these beliefs, I am sure we 
shall find that this must be the outcome. It is a belief in 
God the Father. It is that upon which we are centred. To 
be moved by a belief in God the Father, or feel it so that it 
moves us as it should, all bitterness would be driven out, and 
our souls made sweet and loving like his in whom we trust. 
I tell you if a man love God, he will love his brother also. 
And it shall be an evidence that we are moved by our com- 
mon belief in the universal love of God if we love one another 
deeply, devotedly, and so that we are ready to make sacri- 
fices in a common cause. This love of God, if it moves us 
as it should, will extinguish all hate, put out the fire of 
resentment, and draw us together in a sweet harmony. In- 
deed, is it not doing this ; and as we are moved by it more 
and more, will it not do this more and more for us? 

We believe in humanity as represented in Jesus. This is 
one of our common beliefs. As we contemplate this great 
ideal, are we not bound to be humble? If a brother is over- 
taken in a fault, this belief disposes us to forgive him, con- 
sidering ourselves lest we also be tempted. The ideal is 
very, very high. Let us be moved by the belief in that 
ideal, and how surely shall we be swung close together as we 
journey on toward that height. 

We believe in the triumph of the right. How well calcu- 
lated this is to make us patient with all. There is a man, 
one of our brothers, who falls aside from the right path, but 
God still loves him and cares for him. Shall I not be patient 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



I I I 



with him and love him also? You remember the beautiful 
story told of Abraham. He was sitting at the door of his 
tent to welcome strangers. There came along an old man 
to the door of his tent, — he was a hundred years old, — and 
Abraham gave him welcome, bidding him sit at meat within 
his tent. You remember that he commenced his meal with- 
out saying grace, and Abraham then asked him if he did not 
recognize the hand of God in those things which were pro- 
vided? And the old man said that he did not believe in 
a God ; he believed and worshipped only the fire. And 
Abraham was angry, and thrust him out of his tent, and sent 
him away into the dark night. And God came and said to 
Abraham, "Where is this stranger?" And Abraham said, 
" I thrust him out because he did not worship Thee." God 
answered, " How is it? I have borne with him this hundred 
years; could you not bear with him one night?" Let us 
believe in the great victory which is to be over all evil, in 
the victory of love, in the victory of God, and how patient 
shall we become with our fellow-men ! We shall be patient 
in the delay of the full realization of those ideals toward 
which we have set our faces. How much might be said 
upon this great theme. 

But I return to that expression, " The Sister Churches." 
Is that to be confined to the churches of the Universalist 
faith? And should our fellowship be sweet and loving with 
those who bear our name alone? No; I rejoice to say that 
we recognize Christians everywhere. And may God speed 
the day when, moved by the common faith in Christ, we shall 
live together in one great fellowship. 

I am grateful, Mr. Chairman, for the honor of standing 
here to speak to this sentiment, " Our Sister Churches." I 
am glad to bear my witness to the regard that all feel for 
this home church. May God bless it and prosper it 
abundantly. 



112 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



Fourth Toast. Our Graduates : wherever found may they be 
true to their alma mater and to the faith she taught them, — willing 
workers for Universalism everywhere. 

The president said : " When I first entered the 
School Street Sunday-school I made the acquaint- 
ance of a teacher of a large Bible class. I knew 
him also as president of the Sabbath School Union ; 
as president and treasurer of the State convention ; 
as president of the United States convention ; as 
treasurer of the Universalist Publishing House ; as 
president of the trustees of Tufts College. Out of 
this busy life for the church he can best respond to 
our toast. I introduce to you Mr. John D. W. Joy." 

After the prolonged and significant applause sub- 
sided, Mr. Joy said: — 

MR. JOY'S ADDRESS. 

I wish I could express the gratitude I feel for the privilege 
of this occasion. As I look over this large company I see 
many strangers, and yet to-night we are friends. I will try 
briefly as best I may to speak for so great a multitude as 
" the graduates of the Second Universalist Church of Bos- 
ton." I am reminded that there are graduates and gradu- 
ates in a church, as there are in colleges and in business life ; 
and I say to the young friends who are present that this 
should be borne in mind. Out of my experience I can 
easily recall many men who have graduated from college. 
One, whose father told me that he went to college with 
ample means, with every opportunity to make his mark in 
the world, but for four months after he got his papers did 
nothing, and then began on the lowest round in a woollen 
mill, sorting wool at $1.25 per day, and worked up, until he 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 113 

to-day stands, a man among men, a full-fledged graduate of 
that profession with a large compensation. He did not grad- 
uate from the college. 

I know another man with large wealth who told me himself 
that he went through college. By dint of what is known to 
college men as coaching, by aid of tutors, he finally got his 
papers and retired on his wealth, and for thirty years has 
done nothing but spend his fortune. I know of yet another 
who went into college with ample means. He worked hard 
and graduated, and he is now one of the leading young lawyers 
in one of the largest States in this country, and has been 
honored recently by a very high position in the government 
of the United States. There are many others. 

I look back thirty-five years when we were obliged to sever 
our relations with School Street Church, and in coming back 
to-day it seems to be our church home. I look back to that 
time and recall the men and women who were my companions 
under the ministrations of Dr. Miner. How many are gone ! 
I count it a great honor that I had the friendship of Father 
Ballou, Dr. Chapin, and Dr. Miner. They were eloquent 
men, and gave no uncertain sound on Christianity; and from 
out of their ministrations and teachings the men and women 
who graduated still continue onward, developing into willing 
workers for the Christian. Church. Many have not graduated 
as Dr. Miner would have desired, but a large number have, 
and many of them are at work in the churches of other denom- 
inations. God bless them if in their connections they are 
still working under some banner in the Christian fold, if not 
under ours. 

But those under our banner are scattered everywhere. I 
have heard of them in California, Michigan, Colorado, in Wis- 
consin, in Iowa, and have met them in Maine, in Minnesota, in 
Ohio, Washington, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and all 
of the New England States. But wherever I have known 
them, in our church or in some other church, they were loyal 

8 



ii4 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



to Christ and the work of his Church. Many of these men 
and women have built up our institutions into their present 
prosperity. Brother Metcalf has told you of them. We are 
proud of that society that gave these men and women to 
work, who gave us what we have, and have continued to 
work to make the church greater with continued loyalty 
to Christianity. 

Some say to me, " Oh! you want to make Universalists." 
Certainly I do. I want to make Universalists because I be- 
lieve a true Universalist is the highest type of a Christian. 
But if I cannot do that I would like to have them Christians 
any way. And so I have tried during my life to honor my 
alma mater and to do my church work in the way that a busi- 
ness man has to, leaving the result with that God whom I 
learned in the Universalist Church to love, reverence, and 
trust. 

God bless you, one and all. I wish that I could speak 
better than I have for the large company of graduates ; 
but you have my good wishes. 

Fifth Toast. The Present our Opportunity. Inheritors of a 
great past, and believers in a great future, we realize that the 
work of our parish lies in the present. By united effort may we 
make our church a centre of light and of power. 

Said President Williams : " The drift of our ser- 
vices in December was largely to the past, and the first 
address to-night, which we listened to with pleasure, 
supplements and completes the record. For the bal- 
ance of the evening we propose to examine the present 
and take a look ahead, — ' a look forward and not 
back, up and not down.' Honorable as has been our 
record it is possible for us to win greater and better 
success. If the antagonisms of the past had advan- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



tages for the development of a sturdy church, it is no 
less true that in the favorable attitude of the world 
about us to-day Universal ists have a better opportu- 
nity for useful work, — a more favorable position for 
influencing religious thought. 

" Our senior pastor. Rev. Dr. Miner, will respond." 

The rising of Dr. Miner was the signal of a demon- 
stration which here needs no interpretation. As soon 
as returning quiet prevailed, he in substance said : — 

DR. MINER'S ADDRESS. 

I gratefully thank you, my friends, for this kind reception. 
I cannot, in the few moments I am at liberty to occupy, do 
justice to the subject to which I am called. I can hardly 
express to you my feelings in this hour. In 1837, having 
four months previously preached my first sermon, I met for 
the first time Rev. Hosea Ballou in Walpole, N. H., and by 
some strange circumstance, known to him and not to me, I 
was invited to enter the desk with him and conduct the open- 
ing services on the closing of a convention. That sermon 
was a powerful one, and is daguerreotyped upon my memory, 
and I wish I might repeat it to you. I think I never gave you 
so good a sermon ; and I could repeat it, but I must not. 

Fifty-six years, come June, have passed since that date, — 
fifty-six years, forty-four of which I have spent with you in 
this and in the School Street Church. Am I not speaking 
to you as to my children and grandchildren? I could not tell 
you how my heart has been tried again and again as I have 
seen families leave, called away by business or otherwise to 
some parish outside our limits. What the mobility of the 
people of a great city is, only those who have observed it can 
know. At the height of the greatest prosperity of our Sun- 
day-school in School Street Church about one hundred went 



I 1 6 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



out every year and another hundred came in, and that was 
but an indication of the changes going on in the parish itself. 
One of our excellent brothers who spoke to us on the evening 
of December 18 regretted that we had no more children to 
show. Bless his soul ! He does not " know how it is himself." 
He has not been here to watch the operation. What mat- 
ters it whether we go out and plant a parish, or pour streams 
of influence into other parishes, and, as Brother Joy has said, 
into remote sections of the country? I have travelled some- 
what in the United States and beyond, and at every point I 
have come across those who stand up and say: " Dr. Miner, 
I have attended your church;" or, "You married me." 
And when I tell you I have joined nearly three thousand 
couples in the solemn bonds of matrimony, — not so solemn 
as holy, I hope [laughter], — you may have some indication 
of what our lines of action have been. And so, friends, I 
have known many people. It delights my heart to meet so 
many here who have formerly been connected with us. I am 
glad to feel that there are sympathies in your hearts which 
called you here to-night to testify your regard for this old 
parish. 

You ask me to speak of the present and future. Our 
opportunities are everlasting. As man is always redeem- 
able, so there are always opportunities for winning men 
and women to Christ You will not think me trespassing 
on the proprieties of the occasion when I say that genera- 
tion after generation of this parish, whether in School Street 
Church or in this, — of those who have departed and of those 
who remain, — during the forty-four years I have been with 
you have remained faithful and active in Christian work. If 
they have not touched high-water mark, that is the achieve- 
ment which remains for us. It is the respect I bear for 
the men and women of these forty-four years that leads me 
to cherish unbounded confidence in the years which shall 
come. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



II 7 



New administrations fall into new hands. But they are 
skilful hands. They are men who understand business, who 
know how to manage affairs and hold the helm of the church 
as they would hold the helm of a ship, with a steady hand, 
knowing the course they are sailing. Hence, I have un- 
bounded confidence in the administration of the church in 
time to come. This being the character of the people, their 
opportunity is ripe. They have full opportunity for good 
Christian work. 

But, ladies and gentlemen, we have but a moderate idea of 
what is possible to us through individual work. Do not think 
of the pulpit alone; think of individual efforts. It. is a great 
field which lies before us; and although I see the difficulties, 
there are vast possibilities for us through individual work. 
We have not had so much of this as we might have had. 
Great as our work has been, I shall be glad to see the day 
when every man and woman in the congregation shall make 
all not engaged in Christian work feel that they are robbing 
this community, robbing society at large, and robbing them- 
selves of the greatest influence for good. 

Let me say further: We talk about strengthening and en- 
larging the church and making it more and more useful. An 
organization is worth just what it will do. A church exists, 
not for its own sake, — it is the means whereby the worship- 
pers combine their strength for work. Something of this work 
has been done during the seventy-five years of our history. I 
trust more will be done in the years that shall come. 

We are celebrating our. seventy-fifth anniversary. We are 
also celebrating the first anniversary of the junior pastor. 
[Great applause.] I had but slight opportunities for per- 
sonal acquaintance with him before he was invited by you to 
become your pastor. Those few opportunities had endeared 
him as strongly to my heart as I could expect. The year, 
however, he has been with us has greatly strengthened my 
affection for him, and I feel at liberty to say that the junior 



Il8 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 

and senior pastors are indissolubly bound together. I am 
glad to behold evidence that he has made a warm place in 
all your hearts. [Applause.] He has a right to look to you 
for help. Let no one say: "I am too wearied from my 
week's work," or, " I was out late Saturday night," or any 
other frivolous saying, as an excuse for absenting himself 
from church, and then think to balance the account by say- 
ing, " I send my children to the Sunday-school ! " Let me 
tell you that this example of neglect nullifies absolutely what- 
ever effect for good the Sunday-school can have for those 
children. The parental example is worth more than the 
teaching of the Sunday-school. Oh! the degeneracy of 
these times in that respect ! Even the venerable Hosea 
Ballou gave the people warning that the Sunday-school 
should not be permitted to supplant public worship. Let 
every parent and every guardian resolve that his children 
shall not only be in the Sunday-school but in the church as 
well. It will not hurt them. If they are feeble, cushion the 
seats. If they cannot sit up, coddle them. Bring them up 
in the dignity and solemnity of public worship. 

But I must call your attention to the opportunities before 
us. When I came to Boston forty-four years ago, it was not 
understood that any pulpit in Boston outside the circle of 
Universalist churches preached the doctrine of universal sal- 
vation. Dr. George E. Ellis wrote a " History of a Half- 
Century of Unitarianism," in which he did not even know 
that there was such a body as the Universalist Church ! But 
where are we now? Now the Unitarians claim to be the 
original preachers of all liberal doctrine. Now a broad 
suggestion of Universalism runs through the ranks of our 
popular religious bodies, and has the familiar names of Dr. 
Briggs, Dr. Smith, Dr. Clark, Dr. Egbert Smyth, our late 
noble bishop, and many another known as of the " New 
Orthodoxy," known and felt of all men to be Universalists 
in sentiment and in heart. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



II 9 



Only a little time since I attended the dedication of Dr. 
Herrick's new church — a beautiful structure near Harvard 
Bridge. I listened to a sermon from Rev. George A. Gordon, 
— as open a Universalist sermon as I ever preached myself. 
At the close of the service, — I was there by invitation, so 
that I felt at liberty to make myself at home, — I came to 
Mrs. Gordon, daughter of the late Dr. Manning, and her 
mother, Mrs. Manning, and shaking hands with them I said, 
" Is this preacher from whom we have heard this sermon to- 
night deemed to be a fitting successor to Dr. Manning ? " 
" Exactly," said Mrs. Manning. These pulpits are evidently 
with us. I am sorry that they still march under other ban- 
ners, but harmony will be reached, though very slowly. 
These people are coming to a very wonderful extent into 
sympathy with Universalism, and the names will at length 
fall away. They will enter into broader relationships with us. 
Even now they show in many ways their sympathy. I grant 
you that the liberality of these sects is a barrier to our organic 
growth as a church ; but looking in another direction it is a 
help. We can address any audience wherever gathered, and 
are listened to without reserve. If we chance to indicate our 
grasp of thought and breadth of hope, it is not deemed an 
offence, but very likely the applause will come in at that 
point. This is favorable. 

We have an active, faithful, vigorous, clear-headed pastor, 
who loves to work, and whose work will tell in all this com- 
munity. Allow me to thank you for my own and his sake 
and for the sake of the responsible members of the parish 
to-day. I thank you for this joyful occasion. I cannot tell 
you how heartily I have enjoyed it. I shall lay down my 
work with joy whenever the end shall come. I think, if I 
know myself, I hold myself fairly prepared for the summons 
whenever it may come. I do not think that I have been 
wanting in an endeavor to know the truth or to present the 
application of it to the needs of society, and I shrink not from 
the application of that truth to myself. [Great applause.] 



120 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 



Sixth Toast. Our young Men and Young Women : they are 
the hope of the Church. To their wisdom, fidelity, and enthu- 
siasm we must confide its future. 

The president said : " The Sunday-school has always 
been a cherished part of the parish, and it has ever 
been the wish of pastor and people to receive the 
graduates of the Sunday-school into the associations of 
the church and into all active parish work. Our young 
pastor has naturally a sympathy with young people, 
and if I judge the signs of the times correctly our 
young people are in sympathy with him. Increase of 
the Sunday-school, gains in young people's meetings, 
and the success of the Fortnightly Club, are hopeful 
signs. 

" I ask Mr. Albert A. Gleason, a member of the 
Sunday-school and president of the Fortnightly Club, 
to respond to the toast." 

MR. GLEASON'S ADDRESS. 

The toast which Mr. Williams has given me is a most 
beautiful one; and as I came up here to-night I wished I 
had the brillancy of a Choate or the grandeur of a Webster 
in order that I might do justice to it. The word " fidelity," — 
think of it. It means adherence to principle, to country, to 
this church, and upholding it in its work. 

I am going to take for my text this evening the third stanza 
and fourth verse of the following lines : — 

" If older boys can make a speech, 
The little boys can, too ; 
And though we may not say so much, 
Yet we Ve a word for you. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 121 



" This world is large and full of room ; 
There is a place for all, — 
The rich, the poor, the wise, the good, 
The large, as well as small. 

" So give the little ones a chance 
To show off what they know ; 
And shun us not because we 're small, 
For little boys will grow." 

My text, then, is, " Little boys will grow." As we look 
forward into the future, it becomes us to take some notice of 
the young men and their development. To-day they are 
free; to-morrow their responsibilities may come. The old 
saying is that " Children should be seen and not heard." 
To this, exception may well be taken ; for in all good fields 
and all good works they may be both seen and heard with 
advantage to themselves and the cause they love. Surely, in 
the Sunday-school and the church they should be at home. 
There they should early become interested and active ; so 
that when the proper time comes they may take up the 
work and add strength to this church and to all its various 
organizations. [Applause.] 

But as I have but ten minutes to talk, the first organization 
to which I would call your attention is the Young People's 
Christian Union. Charles Sumner said : " Young men, you 
should adopt a trade, or a profession, or a business-calling, 
thereby making yourselves independent by earning a com- 
petency; but you should go further, and ally yourselves 
to some righteous or unpopular cause, and work for its 
successful solution." I suggest, for your consideration, 
that the cause which this Young People's Christian Union 
has served is of that sort. Calls have come to them from 
outside. They have responded bravely; they are helpers 
in this church. Many a time when a feeble society of 
Universalist faith has needed help, gladly, strongly, and 
speedily have they come to its aid ; they possess fidelity. 



122 



SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



This church is bound to succeed when the young people 
show such a spirit. 

The next organization to which I would call your attention 
is the Altar Club. I never think of the Altar Club but I am 
reminded of these few lines of Lowell : — 

" Whether we look, or whether we listen, 
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten ; 

Every clod feels a stir of might, 
An instinct within it that reaches and towers, 

And groping blindly above it for light, 
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers." 

The Altar Club have done a wonderful good. You remem- 
ber that poem of Gray's : — 

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

The deep, unfathomed caves of ocean bear. 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

The young ladies of the Altar have prevented flowers from 
dying unseen. They have brought them to you. They have 
decorated the pulpit, and, instead of leaving them outside, 
have brought them face to face with you, and made the 
pulpit a pleasure for you and a great attraction to strangers. 
Recently this little society held a fair, and we all know how 
pleasant and how successful it was. 

Another organization is the Fortnightly Club. I will not 
praise, but leave you to judge of the club's success. The 
club was born just one year ago lacking a week. Let me 
here tell you the circumstances. About one year ago I was 
invited to one of the church sociables in this lecture-room, 
and was seated over there by that standing-lamp, when Mr. 
Roblin leaned forward and beckoned. I went over, and he 
said, " Mr. Gleason, I find we have no literary club here." I 
was almost as much of a stranger as he, but he said, " Will 
you help us? " I said, " I will do all I can." Since then we 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 123 



have all worked together, and you know of the success of the 
Fortnightly. Do you know what our aim is in that club? 
As I look over this country, I think I see a lack of patriot- 
ism. Is it not a good idea for the young people to gather 
themselves into clubs whereby their loyalty, their fidelity, 
may be increased to church, State, home, country ? Just 
think of Mr. Whittier as an example of fidelity. Where can 
you find in the history, not only of this country, but of this 
world, a better man as an example to follow. There is 
fidelity in a concrete form, from one end of his life to the 
other, — nothing impure. And let me tell you that it seems 
to me that a church without a literary club is like a ship 
without a sail. A literary club adds so much to the intel- 
lectual development. 

As a young man interested in this society, I feel that this 
society and church are growing, and will continue to grow. 
We have an able, a vigorous, a courageous leader. He came 
here from the West; he is going to enthuse us with his 
enthusiasm. We must carry this work on. This society 
should be the leader of churches in the city of Boston, the 
leader of the Universalist churches throughout this State; it 
must be the leading Universalist church in the United States. 
[Applause.] 

In 1884 Mr. Lowell uttered these words: — 

" New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good jncouth. 
They must upward still and onward who would keep abreast of truth. 
Lo ! before us gleam her camp-fires, we ourselves must pilgrims be, — 
Launch our Mayflower and steer boldly through the desperate winter 
sea, 

Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key." 

My young friends, now is the time for us to " launch our 
Mayflower and sail through the winter sea;" if we would 
keep onward and upward, we must keep abreast of truth. 
And we have a leader who will conduct us. We have a 
leader in Mr. Roblin. [Applause.] 



124 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 



Seventh Toast. Pastor and People : a relation which involves 
mutual obligations. If the one is to teach and to lead, the other 
ought surely to be sympathetic and receptive. Only when both 
work together can growth and success be secured. 

The president said : " To-night's celebration may 
well be considered the first anniversary of the settle- 
ment of our pastor; for it was in January, 1892, that 
he was installed. He came not as assistant, not as 
colleague, but as full pastor, with all the care and 
responsibility that this relation implies ; and this with 
the full endorsement and cordial sanction of his pre- 
decessor and senior. He came from his Western 
home to a strange people and a strange city. He 
found us, I fear, reserved, undemonstrative, accus- 
tomed to old ruts. He found our crooked streets a 
perplexing labyrinth ; but somehow, with his cheerful 
ways, his earnest words, his hopeful bearing, his 
courageous travels, he has found his way to our 
hearts and our homes. I hope he has come to feel 
at home in old Boston, and that he finds encourage- 
ment in his work. I call upon the Rev. S. H. Roblin, 
our pastor, to respond." [Great applause.] 

REV. MR. ROBLIN'S ADDRESS. 

Mr. President and Friends: I cannot but feel proud 
over the achievements of this occasion. It has been so bright 
and conspicuously successful that one has to pause in very 
thankfulness and gratitude for what each and all have done 
to make this night so full of satisfaction and delight. The 
greetings have been so cordial, the music so pleasing, and 
the material viands so satisfying, that good cheer has reached 
the most impervious. Our speakers, most graciously intro- 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



125 



duced by chairman and toast-master, have risen to their best, 
and delighted our minds and warmed our hearts. 

I am not unaware of the difficulty before me as I attempt 
to interest you a moment. I am conscious of the truth of 
the adage, " Enough is as good as a feast." We have had 
just enough, and to add a word more is risky business. But 
I have been called to the floor, and in obedience to the com- 
mand I cannot but attempt a word or two; but in doing so I 
may also illustrate the "power of habit." This "power" is 
very constant in its working. A short time since a Boston 
reporter was standing before a minister with his bride. In 
the midst of the ceremony he whipped out his note-book to 
get the address of the officiating clergyman. This " power" 
is apt to get hold of a minister when he stands up to talk ; 
and now that I am well under way, it is probable I shall for- 
get my promise of a ten-minute speech, and preach you a bit 
of a sermon an hour long. [Laughter.] 

But just here I am reminded that the hour is so late, and 
my time so limited, that I cannot trespass to say what I 
intended, and therefore am at a loss what to say, — some- 
thing like the man who went to a drug-store and forgot his 
errand. When the clerk inquired his wishes, the man re- 
plied, " I Ve forgotten just what I came for, but give me 
something like it." My limitations will not permit me to 
say what I wished, but I shall try to say something like it. 
[Laughter.] 

In my introduction to you I find so many flattering things 
that I am bewildered, not knowing just how to respond. I 
think it best to cut loose entirely, and look upon the future. 
The pilot must look ahead if he would avoid reefs, collisions, 
breakers. The shepherd must look ahead if he would keep 
his lambs from harm, and secure for them a fold safe and 
warm, a shield from danger, cold, and storm. So a pastor 
must look ahead if he would lead his people into the ways of 
the everlasting life ; he must look ahead if he would guide 



126 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNIVERSALISTS. 

them to the succulent grasses of the meadows of God. I 
recall the answer which Jimmy gave his teacher, who in- 
quired the natural product of the Malay Peninsula. " Mala- 
ria," said Jimmy. Such might easier be the natural product 
of the Malay Peninsula than that Christianity should be the 
natural outcome of a Christian church whose pastor did not 
look ahead. [Applause and laughter.] 

I am sure, dear friends, that we shall only compass the 
best work in the valley below by often looking to the heights 
beyond. It is true, as our chairman has said, " The minister 
cannot do this for all." There must be a mutual looking and 
a mutual doing. Of course, I am ready to say that very 
much depends on the minister. There is so much respon- 
siveness to whatever I say or do here, that I feel if much is 
not accomplished the fault will be largely mine. The past is 
secure; it is rich with good works and good fruits. Our late 
and early hours ought now to be filled with a mighty con- 
cern that we who stand upon the summits of the past shall 
do better and better still. So can we do by pledging our 
mutual effort to the doing of our best. I shall try to do my 
part by wisely learning the lessons of every day. One lesson 
I learned early in my ministry, — and trust I shall never for- 
get it, — that is to say the word and have done ; preach the 
message and stop. That was a good criticism a Scotch 
peasant made on the sermon of a great preacher. " Yes, 
yes," said he, " a goodish sermon; but it would hae done us 
mair good had it been clipped short at both ends and set 
afire in the middle." I am trying to profit by this to-night; 
I have clipped both ends of my speech, and am now trying 
to burn the middle. [Laughter.] Certainly, the preacher 
who wisely looks ahead will not preach wearisome sermons, 
but will strive by mighty unction and pungent thought to 
deliver his word and fill his church. 

I feel that I ought to say, too, that a people looking ahead 
a little will certainly be less likely to criticise in a bad sense. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



I27 



They shall be able then to see that a tremendous work is to 
be accomplished in this world ; that time, patience, energy, 
life, are to be given in the great service. They shall thus 
see the necessity of magnifying the good in each effort; for 
there is need of each and of his contribution of service, that 
the great work be done. All will be thus more true to them- 
selves as well as more just to others. A man much given to 
repetitious prayer was always wont to say about the middle 
of the lengthening process, " Lord, help me to pray." One 
night, as this familiar portion of the oft-repeated petition fell 
upon the ears of a long-suffering neighbor, he shouted back 
in stentorian tones, " The Lord help you to give over ! " 
whereupon the petitioner meekly exclaimed, " I was about 
to ask for richest blessings for you." If brother number two 
could have foreseen a little, he would have been tolerant 
toward the prayer. [Applause.] 

One more word, and I am done. I wish to make a plea 
for the gospel of noise. Do not be discouraged at a little 
commotion. All the great factors of the universe let them- 
selves be heard when they are aroused. The wind roars, the 
ocean thunders, the great city hums, — they are all disciples 
of sound. Even the shell placed at the ear duplicates the 
surging of the tides on the extended beach, and reveals that 
the life-blood which seems to circulate so silently through 
our bodies has also its voice to be heard. We are making 
sound here to-night, joyful and constant. In the right sense, 
I desire this to be the noisiest church in this city, State, and 
nation, or even in the large world. " The Lord is. not deaf," 
said a preacher to a brother laboring in prayer; " can you 
not pray a little more quietly? Remember that the great 
temple at Jerusalem was built without the sound of a tool 
being heard." " Yes," was the reply, " but we are not build- 
ing temples; we are blasting bowlders." There are bowlders 
ahead of us still. It is our business, even in these days, to 
charge them with the dynamite of God's righteousness, and 



128 SECOND SOCIETY OF UNI VERS ALISTS. 



scatter them to the four parts of the earth, that we may not 
so much build a temple as to open a way for all the children 
of the Father to pass along to the hills of righteousness unto 
the heights of God. [Prolonged applause.] 

Before the reading of the last toast, announcement 
was made that Rev. Henry I. Cushman, D.D., of 
Providence, once associate pastor, had been unable 
to accept an invitation to be present and speak, and 
that letters of regret had been received from Rev. T. 
J. Sawyer, D.D., and from Rev. Charles Leonard, 
D.D., Dean of Tufts College. 

The President had also a sympathetic note from a 
loved and valued member of the church, Mrs. Mary T. 
Goddard. Mrs. Goddard's letter is as follows : — 

DEAR Sir, — Here in the quiet of my home I have been 
much interested in all that has been done so far to cele- 
brate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Second Universalist 
Society, — the old School Street Church, as I still love to 
think of it, because so many delightful associations and pre- 
cious memories cluster around that name for me. Times of 
depression come before me, when it seemed as if the wishes 
and prayers of opponents were to be answered in our down- 
fall ; times of regeneration, when the ringing tones and elo- 
quent words of Dr. E. H. Chapin, of blessed memory, seemed 
to call in hearers from the very street. Then the steady climb- 
ing upward under the long ministration of the beloved pastor, 
Dr. Miner, unto the present, when the Second Society stands 
as a tower of strength amid all the other societies which have 
grown up around it, and as a beacon-light for our church, 
which has enlarged its borders on every hand, and is spread- 
ing far and wide the joyful doctrines of the eternal triumph 
of good over evil. 



SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



Now, I cannot be with you on the 25th; I can only tell 
you how my heart rejoices at all the work done, and all the 
words said, in this church whose anniversary you celebrate. 
I pray, and will pray, for its continued prosperity. May the 
light it is shedding far and wide gain even greater brilliancy. 
Peace be upon all within its gates, and the very spirit of 
Christ enter every heart and soul belonging to it. 

With esteem and affection, 

Mary T. Goddard. 

Newton, January 4. 

The exercises of the evening had added interest 
and enjoyment in the presence of the choir, who 
most kindly lent their aid, — Miss Elizabeth Hamlin, 
soprano, Miss Emma Rice, contralto, and Mr. Endi- 
cott, tenor, singing finely in solo and duet. The 
length of the speeches made it necessary to cut off a 
part of the musical programme, much to the regret of 
the company. 

At a quarter past ten the meeting was dissolved ; 
and it was with a general feeling of satisfaction that 
the occasion had been so successful that it must have 
lasting influence for the good of the parish. 



9 



NOV 14 19QG 



